White Lilies
by trixiaaaa
Summary: COMPLETE! WHOO! Hermione receives white lilies from a complete stranger...hmm...really? Read & Review! THANKS FOR THE 900 REVIEWS GUYS!
1. Chapter 1: The Lilies

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is not mine. I hope he is...

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER 1: THE LILIES**

White Lilies.

Those are my favorite flowers and those were the things that would always be found on top of my bedside table every morning. Seeing it there when I open my eyes, when I wake up makes my day just right. Once you had a glimpse of it, you'd forget all of your worries and problems like memory charms are casted upon you. Everything seems perfect. But something is still bothering me.

The lilies.

Who the hell is giving them to me? How could he get inside my room? How come he knows that lilies, specifically white, are my favorite flowers? And of all the girls here at Hogwarts, why did his eyes fell upon me and chose me? There are loads of girls out there that are far more gorgeous than me, but...why me?

You see, I have been receiving fresh, white lilies everyday from a complete stranger. A thousand faces popped in my head, most of them are Gryffindors. But I don't think a Gryffindor would do such...such a...

Sweet, romantic thing.

Go on, just laugh at me! I know you think I'm silly, but in my opinion, it's kind of romantic. Ha! If Ron could hear me now, he'd be laughing his lungs out. In Harry's case, he'd be smiling and shaking his head like I had lost my mind. Those boys, they're acting like...like boys! But they're not boys anymore! Why are they acting like that?

We've grown a lot, Ron became the Gryffindor Keeper and he's still the prefect. But mind you, he's playing terribly now. I wish I know why...Harry, somehow, ended up as the Head Boy and Captain of the Quidditch Team. And I became the Head Girl. I was really honored to take the task of a Head Girl. Harry was pleased of it because he was having his own room at the Top of the Gryffindor Tower, right next to mine. That's all that he cares about: his own room.

Just then, I heard a knock on my door that distracted me from my thoughts. Now who the hell--?

"Hermione?"

My door opened and Harry's head poked in, looking around my room and his eyes landed to me. He smiled sheepishly at me and I smiled back.

"Can I come in?"

I snickered. "I can see that your head's already in."

He chuckled and just played my game. "Well," he said playfully. "Can the rest of me come in?"

"Certainly."

The rest of his body appeared behind the door. He was wearing one of Mrs. Weasley's knitted sweaters that matched the color of his eyes. It was now very small for him that it fitted perfectly around his Quidditch-sculpted body. He was wearing jeans that were sizes too big for him, obviously, from Dudley. But it looked really nice on him. In fact, he looked nice on everything he wears because he was tall and everything...

"Are you going to stare at me all morning or are you going to dress up and have some breakfast downstairs?" he said, smiling broadly. I felt my face burn.

"How dare you accuse me of staring at you!"

"But you are! You're guilty!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Oh, just shut up," I said, my face flushed. "I give up. Okay, I was staring at you because you look like a mess."

"Yah, whatever."

"If don't believe me, that's you're problem, Harry Potter," I said moving over to my closet to change. "Now, if you don't mind I'm going to change."

I was about to pull of my top when I noticed that he was still here in my bedroom, sitting on my bed, and staring at me.

"Harry! I said I'll meet you down at the Common Room!"

"Can't I just stay and wait for you in here?" he said with those puppy eyes that are so hard to resist. "Besides, I want to see a very wonderful view from here. If you would just pull up that top of yours a little higher..."

And that was it. The next thing I knew, I was shouting and throwing pillows at him.

"OUT!"

"Hey – er – calm down! I was only joking!"

"But I am not, Potter!" I bellowed. I can't believe this! Since when did Harry start on flirting? And he's flirting with me! "NOW OUT, YOU PERVERT!"

"Now, now, Hermione," he protested as I pushed him out of the door. "Pervert is not the right word—"

"OUT!"

Then I slammed the door shut. I leaned against it, panting. Harry – he's acting like a boy! I just hate him when he acts like that. It's just...oh, never mind.

"Alright!" he shouted from outside. "I give up! If you don't want me to see that wonderful scenery, fine. It's not my loss, you know! I'll wait for you downstairs, okay?" Then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2: The Morning Quarrel

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is not mine.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWO: THE MORNING QUARREL**

After changing my pajamas with a white cotton blouse and tight jeans, I followed Harry down at the common room. He was sitting at the sofa, waiting for me. When I caught his eye, he beamed.

"You know, Hermione, you should have showed me tha – "

"Harry, for the last time, no!" I exclaimed, slapping him at his arm.

"Well, whatever."

Together, we went down at the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Morning," we greeted Neville, Seamus, Dean, Ginny and Ron. I took the seat beside Ginny and Harry sat beside me. Ron was sitting in front of me and he was glaring at me like always did every morning. He started doing that when he discovered that I've been receiving lilies. I acted as if I didn't notice him.

"Hermione," he called me.

"Hmm?" I turned to him innocently.

"Did you –"

"Received lilies today?" I continued his sentence for him. He always asks that, too. "The answer is yes, Ron."

"Aha!" he barked. "I knew it."

"Now, Ron," I said hotly, "if you already knew the answer, why do you keep on asking?"

He practically ignored my question. "Who's doing this?" he asked. "Who's giving them to you?"

"I don't have a littlest idea."

"But do you really want to know?"

"Of course, I do!" I snapped. "But I don't have time to investigate right now. There are a lot more important things than that. It's NEWTs year and – "

"The truth is that you love it!"

"What?"

"You love receiving flowers from that stranger! Don't deny it, Hermione. I know you do."

"Ron! Will you stop pestering her!" Ginny interrupted but it was no use. He ignored her.

"Accepting flowers from someone you don't know –"

"You talk about it like it's something wrong," I said, my voice rising.

"Well, there is!" Ron exclaimed.

"There's nothing wrong about receiving flowers, Ronald!" I snapped.

"Ha! See! Who knows, maybe the next thing you'll tell me is that you're in love with him!"

I felt my face burn. I opened my mouth and closed them again. What should I say? Should I lie and tell them that I don't? I suddenly became aware of Harry sitting so close to me. I know he's listening, waiting for my reply.

"Are you?" Harry muttered silently so that I was the only one who heard it.

"So what if I am?" I answered both of them.

Ron's jaw dropped and I heard Ginny gasped. I don't want to look at Harry. What if he was disappointed with me?

"WHAT!" Ron yelled. "How could you possibly love a guy you don't know even by his name?"

That was a valid question. How?

"Well," I mumbled, biting my lip. "I can't explain it but...I think I know him. Like he reminds me of someone I've known for years but I don't who."

Ron snorted. "Really? You know what? You could be so dumb sometimes!"

"Ron!" Ginny cried. I was taken aback by what Ron had said.

"Haven't you known me long enough?" he continued, gritting his teeth. "Hermione, six years of friendship! Why can't you learn to love me?"

"But I love you, Ron!"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"Ron," I said patiently. "I thought we've already talked about this? I told you, you're just my friend and you will always be my friend! Nothing more, nothing less!"

"If I can't be someone that's special to you, I'd rather not be anything!" he said furiously and he stalked off.

"Ron, wait!"

But he didn't stop to even look back. He stomped off, leaving us all there, dumbfounded.

Ron, he surprised all of us when he courted me just recently. I know that he likes me but I thought it was only a little crush. I dated him, giving our relationship a try, for about a week, leaving Harry alone all by himself. But we didn't work out so I talked to him, telling him that we're better if we're just friends. He was hurt, I know, but he agreed and pretended that he felt the same way as I do, that we're not for each other, that we belong to someone else. Everything went back to normal, or what I thought was normal. I moved on, living the life I usually live, studying till midnight, burying myself in books, spending time with Harry, and loving the person I shouldn't be more each day. But Ron changed. He spends more time alone and his grades are getting worse. He's playing bad at Quidditch and they almost lost a game because of him. Thanks to Harry, they still won. Ron still loves me and he's not over me. But I know that he soon will.

"Hermione?"

I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I turned to look and it was Harry's. He looked worried about me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah – I think so," I answered, not quite sure myself.

"He's just confused," Harry stated, removing his hand on my shoulder to cover my hand with it. "Let him clear his mind, okay?"

I nodded. He gave me a hearty smile that made me feel better.

"Let continue our breakfast, shall we?" And so we did.

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	3. Chapter 3: Confessions

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER THREE: CONFESSIONS**

_I'm doing great. I'm going to receive top marks. I can do this!_

I was studying in the library with Harry that same day after breakfast and nothing in this world – magical or not – could disturb me from it. Not even Ron. I wouldn't let any thoughts of him bugger me anymore. He was just being childish...he'd be fine.

Then I blew it. I lost my concentration because I looked up.

I lifted my eyes from the book that I was reading to check if Harry was studying. Well, if he was even trying to study. The thing is he's not. He was staring at me – hard. Why? I don't have an idea.

"H-Harry?"

"Yeah?" he said, his eyes still focused on me. I couldn't help blushing.

"Why are you – er – staring at me?"

"Why? Is it a crime to stare at you?"

"No!" I said to quickly than I meant to. "It's just – I'm not used on seeing you staring at me." Then I changed my tone into a stern one. "I'm studying here, you see, and you are disturbing me."

Harry beamed at me. "How could I possibly be disturbing you when I'm just staring at you?" then he chuckled.

He's doing it again! How dare he do this to me! What a flirt!

"Well, actually, I want to ask you something," he said, and he became serious.

"Voice it out, then, so we can go back to studying," I replied.

He sighed. "Okay. There's this girl," he mumbled, "that always catch my attention."

Now this talk is different. This is not about Quidditch or Voldemort or whatever-stuff that you can come up with. This is about a girl. We're going to talk about a girl that always catches his attention. A girl that he's interested in. A girl.

_A girl?_

He decided to continue when I didn't say anything. "She's smart, sometimes serious but fun to be with, and absolutely gorgeous. But she doesn't consider herself as a hot chick and thinks very poorly of her appearance. I've watched her blossom into a wonderful lady since she was small and I find myself falling for her. I've never felt anything like this before. This is different from what I felt for – for Cho."

My stomach lurched. So this is it? Harry's in love with someone that's not me. Shame.

"And?" I said, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice but Harry didn't seem to notice it. Odd.

"I'd like you to place your thoughts – to think that you're that girl and put yourself in her situation. You're that girl and I feel these things for you. You're the one that I love."

_Love? LOVE! _Oh, great. Now he wants me to think that he loves me. He wants me to think the unthinkable! He wants me to dream – to fantasize! He's driving me nutts!

"Is – Is that what you want me to do?"

"Yep," he said. "Can you do it? It's not that hard."

_Speak for yourself, Potter! Who told you it's not hard?_ "Well..."

"Please, Hermione! For me," Harry pleaded. "You know what? You almost have the same personality like hers. Like you're the same person!"

My jaw dropped. Me? So much like her? But – but she sounds perfect! I'm not perfect! I'm not fun to be with! And I'm not gorgeous! Harry's definitely pulling my leg. But – why not? Why don't I let him pull it a little more?

"Really?" I said as casually as I could. "Now what?"

"Well, now that you've placed yourself in her situation," said Harry simply. "Would it be alright if I courted you?"

"Er..."

This was harder than I thought. If I were that girl, maybe, I don't know him that much. I mean, of course, I know Harry Potter! Who doesn't! But the _real_ Harry Potter. And perhaps, I don't have these feelings that I have for him right now. Not yet, maybe.

"Um...if I were that girl," I said, avoiding his gaze. "I think I'll give it a shot. I mean – why not? I would like to know how the great Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, acts around a girl he likes."

"Hmm...okay," said Harry, his lips curving into a smile. "So...would you go out with me?"

"Well, that's a part of the getting to know stuff so I must say yes. I would go out with you."

"Good, good...where would you want to go?"

"Hmm...where would I want to go?" I asked myself.

Of course, I would love to go to a simple but romantic place where I could spend quiet time alone with Harry.

"I'd go anywhere. Take me to places I've never been before, I suppose," I continued. "As long as you're there with me, I'll be fine."

"Really?" he asked, dumbfounded. He was grinning broadly.

"Yeah – I guess so," I said, blushing. This is really stupid. I must not get carried away. Harry needs my help with a girl. I must not abuse this opportunity.

"Right," he muttered. "Would you hold my hand?"

"Huh?"

"No. That's not the right question," he said. "Would it be alright if I hold your hand?"

"Uhm...I think it would be alright."

I could feel my face burning. How could he do this to me? Letting me imagine things that I know could never happen to me...he doesn't have mercy! This is torture! I was studying heaven-knows-what a while ago, then there he was, staring at me then he started on telling me about this Miss Perfect and that he needed my help because he knows that I'm an expert at feelings of girls! I don't even know this girl! You know what? I'm going to ask him right now who this girl is!

"Harry, I just want to know, who is she?"

"Do you really want to know?" he said.

Slowly, I nodded.

A wide grin spread across his face. He looked directly into my eyes and he took hold of my hand. He leaned across the table so that his face was mere inches from mine. He moves closer so that I could feel his breath hot against my ear.

"It's you," he whispered.

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	4. Chapter 4: Ginny's Plan

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, never mine.

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**

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER FOUR: GINNY'S PLAN**

"It's you," he whispered.

I froze. Did I hear it right? Did he just say it was me? I think I better clean my ears because I'm starting to hear things that are quite impossible for me to hear. I stared at him open-mouthed. Then he just collapsed in fits of laughter.

"You should have seen your face!" he chuckled, holding his sides. "Got you at that, huh, Hermione?"

Then I realized what he was trying to say and my face turned scarlet. Of course. He was only joking. It's not me. It's impossible to be me. Harry will never like me that way. And the truth hurts like hell.

_Damn you, Potter..._

"That wasn't funny, Harry," I murmured quietly, avoiding his eyes.

"Did you really think I was talking about you?" he asked me. He was still smiling.

How could he do this to me? I thought he was serious when he said that. I should have known. I guess I need to stop on dreaming. I have to wake my self up.

"I – no! Of course not!" I stammered. "Why should I? I mean – I know you'd never think of me like that!"

"Why not?" he asked me. I could sense disappointment in his voice but I ignored it. I might be imagining it again.

"It's because – I, uh – you're my friend! And we'll remain like that forever – right?"

His face fell but he recovered immediately. "Yeah – of course. Friends. Friends forever. Right."

Then there was silence between us. He kept on staring at nowhere and I pretended to read again but I couldn't understand whatever I was reading. I had enough so I slammed my book. He snapped back out of his reverie and looked at me questioningly.

"It's getting cold in here, don't you think?" I said. The atmosphere suddenly became cold after our conversation. I couldn't stand this anymore. I need to get away from him. I need to think. "I'm going back to our common room to warm myself up. Coming?"

"You go on," he muttered. "I'm going to walk on the grounds. Clear my mind of – things."

"Okay," I nodded. I stood up from my chair and stalked off without looking at him.

* * *

"Honestly, I envy you."

Ginny and I had a little chat that evening in my room. Ginny was sitting on the sofa and I was on my bed.

Ginny is the only person in this place who would understand me and I could open my heart into. Well, she's the only person besides Harry. But do you think I could tell him my problems if it involves him? If you're thinking that I should tell Lavander and Parvati, you're completely out of your mind. I mean, telling them my love life is like telling the whole school about it. It will spread faster than you could say 'secret.' Before the day ends, you'll be an instants celebrity. Everyone will talk about you, steal secret glances at you, and whisper things at your back. Stuff like, 'Look at her. She's not even pretty!' and 'She's just smart and she's a Head Girl that's why that guy likes her' and 'what did he see in her? He's probably blind...' and things like that. No secret is safe with Lavander and Parvati, I'm telling you. But there's always Ginny. And she's jealous of me.

"And why are you so jealous of me?" I asked.

"It's because you have Harry for a best friend and you have this guy who always gives you your favorite flowers in the middle of the night, coming in your room, watching you sleep..."

"You envy that?" I said, incredulously. "Yes, I'm lucky to have a guy like Harry with me all the time but I wouldn't want to have those flowers if it means that one of my best friends would be mad at me for receiving it."

Ginny snorted. "If you're talking about Ron, don't mind him. I'm sorry for myself for having a brother that's the biggest git!"

"Yes, he's quite a git, I know but he's still your brother and he's still my friend."

"Well, a friend shouldn't act like that! He should be happy for you, Hermione. Besides, I envy you because you're so lucky."

"And why am I so lucky?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Because this admirer of yours is a gentleman."

"How come you said that?"

"Simple. He gets in and out of your room without you getting shagged to death!"

My jaw dropped. Ginny burst into laughter.

"Ginny!" I exclaimed. "Stop that! You're scaring me!"

"I'm just being honest, Hermione," Ginny said as-a-matter-of-factly. "He enters and exits here without you noticing because you're asleep. He could do horrible things to you while you're snoring –"

"Hey! I don't snore!"

"I know you don't."

"You know what?" I said, standing up. "I better ask Professor McGonagall for a new room."

"What's the matter?" she asked, surprised at my sudden decision.

"You're frightening me! What if he decided to shag me one evening?"

Ginny laughed at that. "I never imagined you saying that word!"

"It's just a word!"

"Okay! Fine, fine...but don't you want to see this guy's face first?"

"Of course I do. But how?" I asked her.

She smirked. "I've got a plan."

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	5. Chapter 5: HouseElf Or Not?

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns Harry. That's the reason why she's a millionaire. I don't own nothing. That's the reason why I'm a tramp.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER FIVE: HOUSE-ELF OR NOT?**

I'm telling you, it's not easy to pretend.

Here I am, lying on my bed, pretending I'm asleep, playing dead. I have to refrain from moving too much and keep my eyes closed if there was a sudden movement in my room. But of course, I'll have to take a peek.

This was the plan Ginny told me. Stay awake all night until that lily guy shows up. When he enters my room, I'll reach for my wand or my lamp, open the lights and...gotcha! And the mystery man would no longer be a mystery! I drank a lot of coffee to prepare myself for what lies ahead. I just hope this plan works.

_DONG!_

The clock strikes midnight and the guy's not showing up yet. I'm beginning to think that I'm just making him up. Maybe I was wrong after all! What if he doesn't exist? Maybe it's just Dobby who's giving me those flowers, showing his gratitude for all those hats, socks, and scarves that I made for the other house-elves. Now wait a minute, if I'm right about Dobby, am I falling for a house-elf? Ugh! I'm not that thick and S.P.E.W. won't take me that far!

Then the door creaked and a narrow beam of light divided my room. I looked towards the door and a shadow entered and the door closed behind him. The room became dark again.

I couldn't move even if I tried. I was frozen right on the spot. I couldn't breathe and it seemed as if my heart stopped.

Dear me! I don't like this. I wish I don't feel so nervous. Oh, I just wish I were asleep! I wish I'm just having a dream! And when I wake up tomorrow morning, there would be white lilies on my side table. Not like this, awake and squinting in the dark, trying to see this guy.

I heard soft footsteps and I realized that he was walking around my room. I summon up all my courage and stretched my arm towards my lamp. Then I realized I forgot to move it closer to my bed! Great. Just great.

He walked towards the balcony and I could see his silhouette from here. What if Harry walked out of his room and when to the balcony, too?

I forgot to tell you. My room is connected to the Head Boy's room by the balcony. I use it sometimes to get in Harry's room if I'm too lazy to walk along the corridor and open up doors.

But my thoughts were interrupted when I heard his footsteps once more. He disappeared from the balcony. Where could he be? I stretched my arm father and leaned my body towards the edge of my bed. Still far!

Then the sound of his feet grew louder. He was coming near my bed! He was coming towards me!

I was so nervous and desperate now that I leaned more...and before I knew it, I was on the floor. I fell of my bed head first. Stars were spinning before my eyes. I heard him running and I saw his silhouette once more in the balcony and he disappeared.

I stood up, steadied myself and turned on the lights. My room came into view and nothing changed. It was still the same except for a thing on the floor. I walked closer to it and looked.

There it was, a bouquet of white lilies lying on the floor. I walked out of the balcony to check but he was gone.

But then again, at least I proved myself that I wasn't falling for a house-elf. He's real!

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	6. Chapter 6: The Suspects

**Disclaimer: **J.K. owns Harry and all the characters in the story.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER SIX: THE SUSPECTS**

"It was so close, Gin, so close!"

I wasn't able to get to sleep after that exciting, suspense-thriller that happened in my room this evening. I don't know if it's the effect of coffee or it's because my heart won't stop on beating extremely fast and my mind was buzzing or something. I went down to the common room, stared at the fire and tried to read a book to take my mind of things but it didn't work. I sat there for minutes, hours, days – honestly, I don't know how long. Then, like she knows I was there, Ginny came and she wasn't surprised to see me up. She asked me how long have I been there and I told her I don't know. Then I burst out and told her every detail of what happened in fast forward. I had to repeat it again because she said I was so fast.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said, shaking her head. "You said you fell off your bed?"

"Yes," I said, blushing. "I was so desperate to reach the lamp so I fell."

"Okay," she nodded. "He ran out of your balcony?"

"Yes."

"And he just disappeared?"

"Yes."

"Maybe he apparated," Ginny said.

I stared at her. "How many times do I have to tell people that you can't apparate at Hogwarts?"

"Okay, okay," she said, apologetically. "But – how?"

I bit my lip. "There are two possible answers. It's either he jumped off my balcony and into the nearby tree, and that would hurt," I added, "or he ran into Harry's room , and that would land him in a lot of trouble. I didn't hear any riot inside Harry's room so he probably jumped off."

"Probably," she said, unconvinced. Then her eyes widen. "No, wait! The other one's possible, too!"

"Huh?"

"Think, Hermione! You're not dumb, are you?"

I was quite insulted by that so I got my mind working. Two possibilities. One, jumped off. I said it was the one but Ginny said that he ran into the other room. He couldn't get past him without a couple of jinx or bruises except...

"Are you saying that that guy was probably Harry's friend? Cause he didn't beat him up when he got in his room."

"No, Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed. "What I meant was he could be Harry!"

"No!" I said in disbelief. "It's impossible. He's not Harry! I'm sure of it."

"How sure are you, then?"

"I don't know! He could be someone else!"

"And who else could he be?"

At that precise moment, the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and it admitted a disgruntled Ron. He walked in then he noticed us and gave a surprised yelp. But we were much more surprised to see him in – er – in that state.

"What are you still doing here, Ginny?" he said, ignoring me. "You should be asleep! Go to your room! It's still early!"

"And since when did you care?" Ginny snapped. "Where have you been, anyway, and – uh – what happened to you?"

Ron was a total mess. His hair was ruffled and leaves and twigs were sticking from it. His feet were muddy and – are those freckles or scratches?

"Quidditch," Ron said too quickly. "Er – I fell into a tree." I caught his eye and he blushed.

"Quidditch? At this late hour?"

"Look whose talking," he retorted. "I can see you chatting at this late hour, too! What are you gossiping about anyway?"

"It's none of your business," Ginny said, simply.

"If I know, it's about boys –" he looked at me and added, "and secret admirers."

"Give Hermione a break, will you!"

"You're not my mother to tell me what to do," he said and he stormed off to the boys' dormitory.

"I'll tell mom about this," Ginny fumed.

"Ginny," I said as an idea popped into my head. "He could be Ron!"

"What? Are you mad? Ron?"

"Look, this guy could've jumped into a tree and tonight, Ron fell into a tree!"

"So?"

"He could be him! Maybe he was just using Quidditch to cover up that he was the one who's giving me those lilies every night!"

"What about those arguments both of you are having every morning?" she asked. "Ron's jealous of the mystery guy!"

"I bet he's faking," I said.

"But what about Harry?"

"I know. He's still one of the suspects," I said. "This is weird. We now have suspects and both of them are my best friends!"

"So, what's your plan? Are you going to do anything about it?" Ginny questioned me.

"Of course," I replied. "And I'll be needing your help."

* * *


	7. Chapter 7: Owl Post

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. Obviously, I'm not a millionaire.

* * *

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: OWL POST**

Ginny and I chatted until daybreak. When people started going down to have some early breakfast at the Great Hall, Ginny and I decided to dress up and do the same. Together, we went down to have some breakfast.

While I eat some cereals, I saw Harry arrive, looking around. When he spotted me, he passed the Hufflepuff table and walked towards me. He took the vacant seat at my front.

"Where were you?" he asked as he pulled a plate towards him. "I went into your room but you weren't there. Where have you been, anyway?"

"I was with Ginny," I answered and Ginny nodded beside me. "We decided to eat early. Look, I've got something to tell you."

And I told Harry everything that happened that night. Harry's face was serious as I tell him everything. When I was finished, Harry just stared at me.

"And that was it."

"Er...he was lucky you didn't see his face," said Harry as he took a bite off his pumpkin pie.

"But I think we have – _a_ suspect," I said, removing Harry from the list. Ginny understood and she nodded.

Harry choked on his pie. "What? A suspect? Who?" And he took a goblet and drank.

I glanced at Ginny then looked directly at him. "Ron."

Harry sputtered and pumpkin juice splattered the table and my face. "Ron! Are you serious? How?"

And at that moment, I saw Ron pass and disappeared behind the oak doors. I nudged Ginny and she looked at me questioningly and saw who I was looking at. She nodded and stood up.

"Uhm – got to go," she said. "I need a word with my brother." And she left.

"What was that about?" Harry asked me.

"Uh – nothing," I said. But the truth is, I asked Ginny to tail Ron and watch his moves closely.

"Ron," said Harry, suddenly. "How come you suspect him?"

"Well, last night, my mystery man could've jumped into a tree like I told you. And this morning, Ron arrived at our common room like a mess, claiming he fell into a tree," I explained.

"Really?"

"Yes. And I reckon he's faking his jealousy on this guy," I added.

"Well, I – I don't think he's Ron," he said, finally. "I mean, he could be telling the truth, you see. Maybe he was really practicing Quidditch."

"But what if he's lying?" I insisted.

"Then there's nothing that I could do about it," he said and he turned back to his pie. There was an annoyed tone in his voice.

I sighed and started eating again when Harry turned back to me, a grin on his face.

"You know what?" he said. "Why don't we have a bet? If Ron's the one, I owe you ten galleons. If not, you should pay up."

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "That's unfair! I'm not even sure yet if he really is!"

"But you kept on insisting that he is!"

"But I – okay! Fine! You're on then, Potter!"

He beamed at me and held out his hand. "Deal?"

I looked at his hand then at his face. I took his hand and shook it. "Deal."

* * *

I woke up the next day a little late. I looked at my side table, expecting to see a bunch of lilies when – there's nothing.

I blinked my eyes once, twice but it wasn't there. I stood up and looked under my bed, under the table, and on every corner of my room but I wasn't able to see even a single petal.

I dressed up sadly and went down at the common room to meet Harry. I felt – lonely and incomplete. It seems as if something was missing. I don't know why.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked me when he saw me. "You look disappointed and upset."

"I'm fine," I said as we walked out of the Gryffindor Tower. But then again, "I mean, no."

"What's up?"

"Well, it's not a big problem, really," I said, blushing slightly. "But this morning, there were no lilies on my table." I waited for him to laugh but he didn't. Instead, he looked a bit guilty.

"I – I bet he didn't want to deliver it in person again after that event in your room. Don't worry, he might be sending them to you – uh – later," he said and we walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down.

It was Monday once more and all fifth years and seventh years were very busy. As Harry and I grudgingly ate our breakfast, we heard loud flapping of wings as a thousand owls came to deliver packages and letters to everyone.

An owl swooped down towards me, delivering my usual subscription of the Daily Prophet. I took the Prophet from the owl's leg and it took off once more.

"Anything new?" Harry asked as I disappeared behind the paper, scanning it.

"Nothing," I said after a while and folding it. "Except if you want to know about the new song of the new band called –"

"Ah, never mind!" said Harry and he shook his head. "Forget that I asked about it."

I laughed and another owl landed on the table with something large tied on its leg. I stopped and took a closer look.

Tied on its leg was a large bouquet of flowers full of – guess what? White lilies. The owl held its leg to me for me to untie its burden.

"Look at that," he said, smiling. "He sent it to you by owl. Told you he's not going to give up yet!"

I untie the bouquet off the owl's leg. The owl took off again like the other one. I examine the lilies and saw a note with them. I took it and read.

_You almost got me that night. I wouldn't dare risk it again._

_You must not see me. Not now. Not until I want you to. Be patient._

_That day will come._

_Soon.

* * *

_


	8. Chapter 8: Sweet Dreams

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter's not mine. It's because Hermione Granger owns him. Lolz! Just joking. I mean J.K. Rowling…

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER EIGHT: SWEET DREAMS**

_"Thre huge grete teeth in his throte...the voys of a serpente in suche wyse that by his swete songe he draweth to hym the peple and deuoureth them."_

_The word manticore came from the Persian word _martikhoras_ which means 'man-eater'. Physically, the manticore was known as having the body of a red lion, human face, ears and blue eyes, three rows of teeth in each jaw, a fatal sting like a scorpion's in the end of his tail, and poisoned spines along the tail which could be shot, like arrows in any direction. The manticore was also attributed with having a voice that was the mixture of pipes and a trumpet. The beast is very swift and has very powerful leaps. The manticore is reputed to roam in the jungles of India, and is known to have an appetite for humans..._

I lifted my head from the parchment and gazed down on it. I already have a foot and seven inches of parchment more than what Professor Vermont (the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher) asked for. I randomly opened my book and it opened at the page where I placed a lily. I grew fond of the lilies so much that I placed a lily in each book so when I open them, I would be reminded that someone loves me.

It's been a week since that event happened in my room. He didn't return again but he's been giving me lilies by owl ever since.

It was already ten minutes before midnight and I was sitting in the common room, studying alone. Harry & Ginny have Quidditch practices every night. Their second match with Ravenclaw's only three days away. Harry's having a big problem with Ron because he's still playing terribly. The only chance that they could win the Cup this year is when Harry catches the Snitch before the opposing team could score a hundred-and-fifty points and above, or when Ron recovers from his – er – terrible heart ache. They're always practicing until midnight, and Harry and Ron still have to catch up with their school work. Ron's still not talking to me and he's avoiding Harry and me as much as possible.

I heard the portrait of the Fat Lady open and I saw the Gryffindor team walked in. They were all exhausted so all of them went straight to their dormitories except for Harry. He saw me sitting in front of the fire, gave me a weak smile, and walked towards me.

"Why are you still up?" he said and he sat beside me.

"I was waiting for you," I replied. "I bet you're be very exhausted after your practice so I decided to help you out with your school work."

"Thanks."

He pulled a roll of parchment towards him with his book and started scribbling.

"How was practice?" I asked as I watched him.

"It was terrible as usual," he said, not lifting his eyes from his work.

"Is it Ron?"

"Yes," said Harry. "I don't know what to do about him. I even threatened him that I'll throw him off the team if he keeps on playing like that."

"What did he say?"

"Said that I should do whatever I want to do because I am the captain of the team. He doesn't care. But I'll never do that to Ron. I know he's a good Quidditch player."

Then there was silence except for the crackling of the fire and the scratching of Harry's quill on the parchment. My eyes were drooping and I felt very sleepy.

"Done," he said suddenly and pushed his work towards me.

I scanned his work for errors and tapped each of them with my wand to correct them. "Manticores roam in India, Harry, not in Mexico."

"Uh, sorry," he yawned.

"Here. There are no more errors," I said as I handed him his essay.

"Thanks."

"Now, let's get some sleep, shall we?" and I stood up then swayed on the spot and almost fell over but Harry caught me.

"Whoa, easy, Hermione," he said as he steady me.

"Just tired, that's all," I replied.

"Let me carry you up."

"No – I'm fine, really," but when I said that, I stumbled and landed on the sofa.

"Oh, come on." He lifted me and carried me up the stairs towards my room before I could protest.

"But – our essays –"

"I'll get them after I put you to bed." He smiled at me and I nodded. I relaxed in his arms and closed my eyes. He was being sweet again. I hate it when he does that. It just makes me want to ravish him right there, at that precise moment.

"Almost there." He stopped in front of my door and opened it. I could imagine him carrying me like this into our bedroom after our wedding.

_Get a grip, Hermione... _

He walked towards my bed and laid me gently on it. "There you go. I'll go fetch our essays now, okay?"

"Okay," I murmured. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said and he walked away from my bed.

"Harry?" I called out before he could close the door behind him. He turned to face me.

"Yeah?"

"Good night."

He face brightened up and he beamed at me. "Same to you, Hermione. Sweet dreams." And he disappeared behind the door.

I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. Yeah, sweet dreams.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9: Crash

**Disclaimer: **This is a fanfic. I suppose you know what that means.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER NINE: CRASH**

_What's wrong with me? Why am I trembling?_

I was walking alone towards the Quidditch Pitch, feeling very uneasy. It was Gryffindor's match against Ravenclaw and everyone was wearing rosettes and badges and even some huge banners with the color and logo of the team they are supporting. The Slytherins, who had chosen to support Ravenclaw, were all wearing blue and white colored badges and rosettes. Slytherin lost the game against us and Malfoy kept on blabbing about how Harry cheated him by using a Confundus charm on him. I know they would love to have revenge and, knowing the Slytherins, they'd want everyone to witness their gruesome and violent punishment.

Maybe that's why I'm feeling so troubled. This day would be the perfect day for their plan. I could sense that something very bad is going to happen.

The stands were now starting to fill up with students and teachers who came to watch the match. I sat beside the other Gryffindors who are all looking excited. I tried hard to convince myself that everything is going to be fine.

After some minutes, the crowd went wild as the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams emerged from the end of the field, from their locker rooms. I saw Harry, his Firebolt on his shoulder, leading the rest of the Gryffindor team towards the center of the field where Madam Hooch was waiting with the chest that kept the four balls. I could see that he's nervous and he kept on switching the positions of his Firebolt. Then Madam Hooch told him and the Ravenclaw captain some things and they shook hands afterwards. They all mounted their brooms and waited for the signal to start the game.

_Good luck, Harry..._

_Prrttt!_

The whistle sounded and fourteen players kicked off from the ground. Four balls shot out into the air and I had a glimpse of the tiny, golden Snitch before it disappeared. The players now started zooming across the field and I saw Ron fly towards the three goal hoops and staying in front of the middle one. _Please, play brilliant today, Ron, _I thought to myself.

"Gryffindor in possession," said the magnified voice of the Hufflepuff commentator, Poker, who replaced Lee Jordan. "Ginny Weasley with the Quaffle, passed it to Dean Thomas who dodged Pidgeon of Ravenclaw, threw it to Seamus Finnigan who returned it to Weasley – and she scores!"

The Gryffindors cheered and I clapped with them. There was a loud 'boo' from the Slytherins' end they started singing 'Weasley Is Our King.'

"Oh no..." I muttered and looked over to Ron. He was trying to make his face straight but his ears were in a deep shade of red.

"Ah, not another chorus of that song!" The commentator said. "Anyway, Bobbins with the Quaffle! He slipped pass Thomas, passed the ball to Hiffler who went straight towards the Gryffindor goal with only the Keeper to beat..."

_Weasley Is Our King_

_He's born in a bin..._

"And he scores!" yelled Poker. "That's ten-ten to Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindors groaned and the Ravenclaws and Slytherins applauded. The singing grew louder, drowning the commentator's voice.

_He cannot save a single ring_

_Weasley Is Our King!_

"The Quaffle's with Finnigan but Perkins intercepted him and took the Quaffle! Ravenclaws are doing well! But where the Gryffindor Beaters? Why aren't they doing their job?"

I noticed that, too, and looked around for the Beaters, Sloper and Peakes. I saw them tailing Harry, swinging their bats fiercely against the Bludgers that was trying to attack him.

"Look!" shouted Poker. "The Bludgers seem to attack only one player!"

"Oh, not again!" I exclaimed and clutched the edge of my seat tightly. Bludgers! This would be the second time Harry's being attacked by Bludgers. The first time has been tampered with by Dobby...

A realization hit me as I looked at the other end of the Quidditch Pitch where the Slytherins sat. "Malfoy," I whispered when I saw him sniggering. His friends were all clapping him on the back as if they were congratulating him for something. And it's pretty obvious what it was all about.

The game still continued for no one called for a time-out. Both of the teams scored a lot of goals but Gryffindor was still in the lead with ninety points while Ravenclaws was with sixty. Harry was still being chased by both of the Bludgers. Then, there was a sudden commotion on the Ravenclaws' end. They were all jumping excitedly at their seats and were pointing at something. I followed their gazes and my eyes fell on the Ravenclaw Seeker chasing after the Snitch, only a couple of feet above the ground. All of a sudden, Harry dived and was on the other Seeker's tail followed by two Bludgers. He was now gaining on the Ravenclaw Seeker and after two seconds, he was now in the lead. They were going at top speed but the Ravenclaw Seeker gave up and pulled back, fearing that he might crash. But Harry went on and fear overwhelmed me.

"Noo! Stop!" I yelled at the top of my lungs but I know he didn't hear me for everyone's shouting with me. What does he think he's doing? Is he mad? He's going to crash!

I buried my face in my hands to cover everything from view. I tightly shut my eyes. I couldn't look. I couldn't breathe. Then I heard a loud crash and everyone groaned. The girl beside me screamed and I felt my knees go weak.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10: Bandages and Apologies

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is a property of J.K. Rowling…

**WARNING:** **Violence ahead...

* * *

**

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TEN: BANDAGES AND APOLOGIES**

The girl beside me screamed. I was about to collapse but then she cheered and clapped with the rest of the Gryffindors. I heard the commentator announcing that Gryffindor won the match. I lifted my face from my hand and blinked. Harry was still in the air, clutching a glinting object in his hand, and beaming at the crowd.

_Am I seeing things again? Is Harry really okay?_

I looked over to the spot where he was supposed to crash onto. There were two deep holes on the ground where the two bludgers sat motionlessly. It was the bludgers who crashed, not Harry.

My lips curved into a smile and my face brightened up. I hurried towards the field and ran towards Harry to congratulate him.

He mounted of his broom and landed gently on the ground. His teammates moved towards him and squashed him into a group hug. They were still laughing when they broke the hug and Harry found me.

"Hermione!" he shouted as he scampered towards me. "We won! We won!"

"You did it again!" I exclaimed. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up. I squealed as he turned around and around until we were dizzy. Someone whistled at us and we both blushed. Harry placed me back on the ground.

"I thought it was you who crashed," I told him, tears of joy flooding my eyes. "The first year beside me screamed and I thought something bad happened to you. Oh, Harry!" I flung my arms around his neck.

"Get a room, will you?"

Draco Malfoy was standing with his goons near from us. He was no longer smiling and sniggering like he was doing earlier. "You're lucky those bludgers didn't pulverize you, Potter. Once again, you won by _luck_."

Harry frowned and was about to retort when I held up a hand to stop him. "You know what?" I said, taking a step closer to Malfoy. "You're right. Harry's very lucky indeed. Lucky because he was gifted with great talents in Quidditch unlike you who're gifted on bewitching bludgers to chase after him."

"How dare you accuse me!" he drawled. "You freakin' geek! You mudblood –"

Then I saw Harry lunged at Malfoy. "Don't – call – her – that!" he bellowed as he punched every part of Malfoy that he could reach.

Crabbe and Goyle immediately moved and they grabbed Harry by his robes. They threw him against the wall and Goyle pinned him against it. Crabbe took the bat from the Ravenclaw Beater who was standing nearby and whacked it fiercely at the back of Harry's head. I heard a loud 'crack' and Harry fell on his knees, his eyes unfocused, and fell on the ground.

"No! Don't!" I screamed, a look of horror painted across my face. "Please, stop it! You're going to kill him! Stop it!"

Crabbe raised his bat once more and was about to beat him up again, but someone jumped on him. They staggered and landed on the ground. I saw a bunch of red hair scrambling to his feet and knew it was Ron. He drew his wand and pointed it at Goyle, but then, Crabbe swung his bat at Ron's leg and he fell. Goyle launched himself off the ground and landed on Ron's arm and an ear-splitting cry rang in my ear.

"Stand aside, please, or I'll give a detention," said Professor McGonagall who was trying to move from the crowd. "Will anyone please tell me what's going on?"

People around us stood aside to let her pass. She spotted the riot before her and her jaw dropped. She didn't see Harry because Goyle blocked him from her view.

"Wha – What happened here?" she asked when she saw me. "Another after-match riot?"

I nodded, unable to speak because I was shaking badly.

"Don't tell me you weren't able to stop it, Miss Granger!" she said hysterically. "You're a Head Girl! For Merlin's sake why didn't you –"

"Professor, H-Harry's hurt badly!" I sobbed, unable to stop my self even though it means I have to answer a teacher. "He – he needs the Hospital Wing immediately."

"What?" asked Professor McGonagall.

At that moment, Goyle grunted and rolled off Ron who was whimpering and holding his arm. There was a puddle of blood on the ground and lying face down on it was Harry.

* * *

"Is he going to be alright, Madam Pomfrey?"

I was sitting between Ron and Harry's bed with the rest of the Gryffindor team inside the Hospital Wing. Harry obtained a cracked scull and a broken neck. In Ron's case, a broken arm and leg. Ron had his back turned to us but I know he's awake.

"He lost a lot of blood but he'll be alright," she said as she wrapped bandages around Harry's head. "I gave him a blood replenishing potion. But he should spend the night here for a fast recovery and the same goes to Mr. Weasley. They'll be out of here tomorrow afternoon if we're lucky."

Professor McGonagall panicked when she saw Harry sprawled on the ground. She sent him and Ron to the Hospital Wing at that precise moment. Draco only received bruises and a bloody lip but he's okay. Crabbe and Goyle were suspended for about a month because of beating a student.

_They should have been expelled! They almost kill Harry! _I said to myself.

"You lot better leave now," Madam Pomfrey told us. "The feast is going to start. Besides, my patients need some rest. Go." And she disappeared behind her office.

One by one, the Gryffindors started to leave. Ginny stood up with Dean then asked me if I was coming.

"No, you go on," I said, smiling weakly at her. "I'm going to stay here for a while. I'm not hungry."

Ginny nodded and she left with Dean. I turned to Ron who was still pretending to be asleep.

"Ron?"

He remained silent. I took a deep breath and continued. "I just wanted to tell you, thank you for helping Harry a while ago. They could have killed him if you didn't jump in."

Still he didn't answer.

"Look, stop isolating yourself from Harry and me," I said in a strict tone. "If you think we're mad at you for whatever reason you can come up with, you're wrong. But if you're still mad at me because – because I couldn't love you the way you want me to, I'm sorry. Its not that I don't love you, because I do! Its just – well, you're just my friend. And I will always be your friend no matter what happens.

"I miss those arguments we have about even the smallest things. I miss those times when you're trying to copy essays from me. I miss those times when you and Harry play tricks on me. I miss those funny stories and the expression on your face when you tell them. I – I miss you, Ron and I know Harry feels the same way."

Silence. I gave up and stood from my chair. I kissed Harry on his forehead and was about to leave when I heard Ron.

"I'm sorry."

I turned around and I saw him, looking guiltily at me. "I didn't know. I was being selfish. I didn't care about how you feel. I'm sorry."

I smiled at him. "Apology accepted."

"Thank you," he said and smiled.

"Now, you better take a nap and I'll be seeing you and Harry tomorrow," I said and he nodded. He pulled his blanket closer to him with one hand and closed his eyes. Seconds after, his snores filled the room.

I left the Hospital Wing, feeling better because I have my best friend back again.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11: Great Person

**Disclaimer:** This is fan fiction. I suppose that's clear enough.

* * *

**WHITE LILIES **

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: GREAT PERSON**

I woke up early the next day to visit Harry and Ron. It was another weekend so everyone was still sleeping soundly in their beds. I stalked out of the Gryffindor Tower, passing the deserted corridors, my feet taking me to the Hospital Wing.

I walked inside and everything was silent except for Ron's snores. My eyes traveled to the other bed where Harry was lying, still asleep. There was a smile on his lips and I couldn't help myself but stare at it. He was like a child having a very nice dream.

"Is that you, Miss Granger?"

I almost jumped when I heard someone mention my name. I looked around and saw Madam Pomfrey standing before her office.

"Yes, it's me, Madam Pomfrey," I said after catching my breath. "Just visiting Harry and Ron to see if they're doing fine."

"I understand," she said as she walked towards the door. "Oh, and good thing you are here, too. I'll be out for a while. I need to go to the Green House and talk to Pomona – you know, Professor Sprout. I'll be going to Severus too and ask him to make me Pepper-Up Potions...we're lacking those. So, please look at them while I am away."

I nodded and she disappeared behind the door. I moved towards Harry's bed and sat down beside him. I leaned closer, my face hovering on top of his, and stared at him. He had changed a lot since I first met him on the train. There were now shadows under his eyes, maybe because of Quidditch. Back then, he was a cute boy of eleven. Now, he's a handsome, young man of seventeen. He's a great guy and he's been my friend for almost seven years. He's become a big part of my life and a want him to be a part of it for the rest its days.

_You have no idea how much you mean to me, _I thought to myself as a stared at him.

Suddenly, he grunted then slowly opened his eyes. He blinked twice then looked at me.

"Am I already dead?" he asked.

I was taken aback by his question. Dead? How come he thinks that he's dead?

"What are you talking about, Harry?"

"This is heaven, right?" he said in a hushed voice. He seemed to be struggling to speak. "That must mean I'm dead."

"No!" I exclaimed. "Heavens, what made you say that? Are feeling okay? Is there something wrong? Maybe you need more rest –"

"I'm fine," he said. "Actually, I feel like I'm floating."

"Dear, Harry...what's wrong with you?"

I began to worry about his sanity. What if that beating up affected his brain? What if he was losing his mind? I'll never forgive Crabbe and Goyle for this!

But then he smiled at me and said, "I'm in heaven because I can see an angel sitting right next to me."

I felt hot around the face. "I can see that you're back to normal now, Potter."

He chuckled and sat bolt up too quickly that I gasped. "You think so?" he said happily. "Then, I won't need these things now!" He started removing the bandages from his head.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" I said too loud, forgetting that Ron was still sleeping on the next bed. Harry tossed the bandages on the floor and started to remove his head support.

"GOODNESS! STOP THAT!" I cried.

"What's going on?"

It was Ron. Harry and I fell silent abruptly and looked over to him. He was sitting on his bed, an annoyed look painted across his face.

"Uh, sorry Ron," I said and Harry stared at me. "It's Harry. He was – uh – never mind. Just go back to sleep. Promise, we'll be quiet –"

"Nah," Ron said, shaking his head. "I've had enough sleep. Right now, nature calls!"

Then he stood up suddenly. I yelped and clutched my chest. _What do they think they're doing? They're not completely fine yet! Boys..._

Ron walked towards the bathroom, still slightly limping. Harry laughed and he successfully removed the head support from his head.

"So, tell me, Hermione," said Harry, smiling. "What happened while I was dozing?"

"Last night I talked to Ron," I said. "I told him we miss him and we want him back."

"Really? What did he say?"

"Said he was sorry."

Harry shook his head and laughed. "I knew you'd be the one to fix things between you and Ron. He's got so much pride!"

"Yeah, I know."

"You are a great person, Hermione Granger." He beamed at me.

"Thank you."

"If I were given a chance to spend the rest of my life with someone, it would be you."

I blushed. "Oh, I – that was – really?"

"Really," he said.

Then, the door of the Hospital opened and in came Madam Pomfrey. She spotted the bandages on the floor and the head support that Harry was holding. He looked back at him. Then...

"POTTER!"

* * *


	12. Chapter 12: Bad Mood

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

**

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWELVE: BAD MOOD**

"I told you not to remove those things in the first place!"

I was walking ahead of Harry and Ron, who were scowling behind me. Madam Pomfrey scolded Harry and Ron, especially me when she saw us. She asked me why I let Harry and Ron remove their bandages. She said it was my responsibility to stop them from doing such thing since I am the Head Girl and – and since she told me to watch over them. Harry tried to explain that it was his fault, that he and Ron did not listen to me, but Madam Pomfrey told him not to interfere and he fell silent. She was so angry she said offending words to me, like I wasn't doing my job well and that I wasn't fair because I have special treatment for my friends. I apologized to her and told her would never happen again. She took fifty points from Gryffindor and told us to leave the Hospital Wing. I have never been so humiliated in my life!

"I'm sorry," Harry said as we approach the Gryffindor table. "I was just –"

"Very anxious to free yourself from those bandages, is that it?" I said sarcastically. I was very angry at both of them, especially to Harry because he was the one who started it.

"Hermione, I – I'm sorry, okay?" he repeated in a more sincere tone. "I didn't mean to do it."

"You didn't mean it? _You didn't mean it?_" I exclaimed as I sat down. Harry took the seat in front of me. "So are telling me that those bandages moved at their own will? Gee, I never knew!"

"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered, looking at me at the corner of his eye. He sat beside Harry because he was scared to take the seat at my left. "Give Harry a break, will you? We both had a bad night! Harry had a cracked skull –"

"It was his fault. He deserved it," I said, but I felt a bit guilty. He obtained that injury because he defended me from Malfoy.

_But I never asked him to. He should have ignored Malfoy._

Then, a thousand owls came with the usual letters. An owl with my Daily Prophet swooped down to deliver it to me. I took it but put it aside. I looked up again, expecting another owl to come to deliver me the lilies. _At least there's still something here that could make me feel better, _I said to myself.

But the owl never came. I waited but not a single one approached me again. The Great Hall was soon owl-free and that was when I lost hope. I sobbed and crossed my arms in front of my chest, glaring at the food in front of me. _Now I feel really bad!_

"I – uhm – there's no lilies today!" Ron said, trying to change the topic. He was rather joyful.

It was a bad idea. It made my temper worse.

"So what are you trying to say?" I snapped at him.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "I'm just telling you, that's all."

"Do you think I didn't notice?" I shouted, standing up from my chair. "Do you think I'm blind?"

"No!"

"Well, Ronald thanks for mentioning it again!" And I stomped off from the Gryffindor table and out of the Great Hall. I heard Harry calling my name but I didn't turn back. He ran after me and he grabbed my arm.

"Hermione, wait!"

"What do you want?" I said as I turned to face him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, peering into my eyes. I did my best to avoid them.

"It's none of your business," I said casually.

He fell silent. I knew I hurt him but I didn't care. _Serves him right._

"I'm sorry," he said for the third time but I don't know why I didn't find it convincing. Maybe I was very angry and my heart turned into stone.

"Just leave me alone!" I shot, wrenching my arm away from his grip. "I don't need someone like you pestering me, okay? I don't need you!"

I turned my heel and walked on, leaving him there alone, a hurt look on his face. But I realized that I didn't care.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13: My Fault

**Disclaimer: The usual...JKR owns Harry Potter and they lived happily ever after. The end.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MY FAULT**

I couldn't concentrate and my stomach was grumbling.

I was in the library, trying to bury myself alive behind all of those books that I took. At least I was safe there. No one would bother to enter the library on weekends aside from me. In that way, I wouldn't have to face Harry. I was safe – and starving.

I wasn't able to eat breakfast because of that – er – _little _misunderstanding between Harry and me this morning. I went straight to the library after that, fuming. I took this book about...this stuff and read about...something. Oh, honestly, I couldn't remember!

_How can you remember, _said the other part of my brain. _You didn't read it! You just took the book and stared at it for a whole hour._

Okay, fine! But that was only because I kept on thinking about _him _and that hurt look on his face. I couldn't seem to take it off!

_That's because you are guilty. You hurt his feelings and now your conscience is bothering you._

Guilty? Guilty of what? I just told him to leave me alone because I need some peace because I was very pissed.

_Pissed because you were insulted by the school nurse? I know you were hurt by what that – lady said about you, but that doesn't mean that you have to do the same to others!_

But it was Harry's fault! Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be angry at me if he didn't act as an eight-year-old child and removed those bandages! Besides, he knows how Madam Pomfrey reacts when it comes to her patients. He's the Head Boy, for Merlin's sake! He should know how to behave!

_That's Harry we are talking about. It's normal for him to act like that! And you should have stopped him, Madam Pomfrey told you to. I know he would listen to you._

But he didn't! I told him to quit it but he still continued. And I was the one to suffer all those insults! Now, he must take the consequences of his wrong doings.

_Yeah, maybe he didn't listen to you and it was his fault, alright. But remember, he apologized to you! He said he was sorry and he said it three times, all of them were from his heart. Why didn't you forgive him?_

Well, I – I don't know! Maybe I want to hurt him because...because...

_Because what?_

Because I love him. I love Harry.

"Now that doesn't make any sense," I said out loud without realizing it. I sighed. Being alone didn't help me think either. What I needed was someone to talk to. Someone who could give me a good advice. Someone that could understand me. Someone like Ginny.

_Precisely._

I stood up, returned the books to their proper places and went to look for Ginny.

* * *

"What do you think?" I said to Ginny after I told her what happened this morning. She wasn't there to witness our argument.

I looked all over the school for her. After about an hour of looking, I decided to look inside our Common Room. I avoided that place because I was afraid to meet Harry. What if he was there? How would he treat me? Cold? How would I react? What would I say to him?

But fortunately, he wasn't there. Where ever he was at that time, I don't care. As long as he doesn't come in here, it's fine with me. I found Ginny playing Exploding Snap with Dean when I arrived. I sat beside her and muttered that I needed to talk to her. She understood and shooed Dean away to talk to me.

Ginny frowned, her eyebrows furrowed. "You know what? You were so mean! How could you do that to him?"

"Do what?" I asked innocently. "I didn't do anything!"

"Now look, what would you feel if Harry told you that he doesn't need you?" Ginny said seriously.

"I'd be hurt, of course!" I said. "Would you like it if you were rejected?"

"Exactly! And that's what you did!" Ginny exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Hermione, you broke the guy's heart!"

"Well, I – yeah, but I didn't mean to do it," I said, facing the truth. "I wasn't thinking properly at that time..."

_What have I done?_

"Your anger took control over you," Ginny said. "You owe him an apology."

"Why?"

"Hermione, please don't make me explain it to you again! I'm going to have a headache!"

"Okay, sorry," I murmured.

"Now, I realize, you and Ron have a similarity," Ginny said, half smiling. "You could be soo thick sometimes!"

"Oh, come on," I said and stuck my tongue out. "Fine. I'll do it. Tonight. Promise."

"Good," Ginny nodded. "Now, I know you are starving. You didn't have breakfast and lunch and you'll be skin-and-bone if you miss another meal. Come on!"

* * *


	14. Chapter 14: Unexpected Guest

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a property of JKR.

* * *

**

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: UNEXPECTED GUESTS**

Ginny accompanied me to the Great Hall to have some supper. I pulled all the plates that I could reach towards me and loaded them all on my plate. I ate like I have never eaten for days and everyone stared at me.

"Bloody Hell, Hermione," Ron said, his mouth hanging open as I cram lots of food into my mouth. "I never knew you could eat like that!"

"Hafnifferitenshinsbrefash," I mumbled. It was a great achievement for me to even make a sound. Ron just stared and Ginny laughed. I swallowed hard and faced Ron. "Where's Harry?"

"I don't know," Ron said, sadly. "I've never seen him since breakfast. I thought he was with you all day because he also missed lunch. Was he?"

"No." My face fell and stopped eating. _Where could he be? "_Do you have any idea where he went?" I asked.

"None at all."

"Oh...thanks," I said and I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked me.

"I'm going to look for him and apologize," I said as I walked away from the table.

"But are you done eating?" he called after me. I just waved my hand and left.

* * *

I went to his room at the top of the Gryffindor Tower, rehearsing what I was going to say to him. I know he was there – where else could he be? I stood before the door, my heart pounding in my chest and my hands shaking. _What would I do? What would I tell him? Would he accept my apology? Would he forgive me?_

I grasped the doorknob and was about to turn it. _Maybe I should knock, _I thought and so I did. No one answered.

I knocked again, louder, and I called out. "Harry, it's me. I want to talk to you."

Silence.

Then a thought entered my mind. _He's avoiding me. _I fought back the tears that were forming in my eyes and said with a quivering voice, "Please, I need to talk to you."

But not a sound was heard.

"Harry, I know I've been awful to you this morning and –" I took a deep breathe. "– and I just want to apologize. Sorry."

Silence.

Wait a minute. What if he's not in there?

"Harry?" I said. "Are you in there?"

No one answered. I took a deep breath and turned the knob. I went inside.

Harry wasn't there. I stared all over Harry's room for about two minutes, standing on the doorway. Then I started laughing. He's not in here! All that drama for nothing!

I closed the door behind me and gazed around. Harry's room was a mess. Pieces of parchment and broken quills litter the floor. School robes and muggle clothing hung behind chairs and cabinets. Books were scattered on his bed and on the floor. I shook my head and smiled. _Boys..._

I began cleaning his room, throwing those broken quills and parchments, folding his clothes and piling them neatly on his bed, and arranging his books. And when everything looked fine, I sat down on his bed and waited for him to come.

Then I noticed something under his pillow. It was a journal, Harry's journal. I never knew he had a journal. I know I wasn't allowed to see what was inside but curiosity urged me to read it. I took it and randomly opened it. It was Harry's handwriting, alright.

_Hi. Harry here. I had a hard day today because it was our match against Slytherin. We won but it was terrible. Slytherins were clearly using violence to win the match. I sprained my wrist but it was nothing compared to my teammates' injuries. The Slytherins were attacking my Chasers! Those gits..._

_Ron. He was...like the Ron back then. He didn't save a single ring. He started playing like that when Hermione started receiving lilies. Do you think I should stop –_

Then I dropped Harry's journal when I heard a sudden movement from outside the balcony. Then Hedwig flew inside, a dead mouse in her mouth. She was clearly looking for Harry.

"Hey, Hedwig," I greeted her. "Are you looking for Harry?"

Hedwig blinked and I took that as a yes. "She's no here yet and I don't know where he is," I told her. "You can come back later."

It seemed like she understood because she blinked at me and flew out again. I took the book from the floor and opened it. I lost the page that I was reading and decided to look for it. As I turned the pages, something caught my eye. I stopped and read it.

_It's me again. My plans for today were ruined, thanks to her. I never knew she was planning something like that. What a sweet, clever girl. That's why I like her so much._

_Now I need to formulate another plan. It was not that difficult. I used the barn owls up at the Owlery. She didn't mind it. Actually, she's beginning to like me. Thanks to my good friend here for her advice! She never knew she was the –_

I was interrupted this time by the sound of the doorknob being turned. I immediately closed Harry's journal and placed it under his pillow. I held my breath as the door opened and there was Harry, swaying at the doorway with someone. They staggered forward and landed on the floor.

This person was on top of Harry, her lips glued to his.

It was Ginny.

* * *


	15. Chapter 15: Best Girl

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: BEST GIRL**

"G-Ginny?"

My jaw dropped as I stared at both of them lying on the carpeted floor. I couldn't believe my eyes. _This can't be happening..._

Ginny unglued herself from Harry and saw me sitting on his bed. She immediately stood up and looked at me guiltily.

"Hermione!" she said, surprised. Obviously, she wasn't expecting me to be here in Harry's room. "I – er – how – what are you doing here?"

I didn't answer her question. I stood up and glared at her. Ginny bit her lip and became interested with her fingers. I looked down at Harry who was still on the floor, muttering incoherently. I could smell alcohol on him. _Drunk, _I said to myself.

"Hermione, I –" Ginny said but I held up a hand to stop her.

I took a deep breath and looked at her straight in the eye. Tears were forming in my eyes but I didn't hold them back and allowed them to fall freely. "How could you do this to me? I trusted you!"

"Let me explain –"

"Explain? Explain what? I saw you and Harry, Ginny! I saw both of you with my pair of eyes and that explains everything! I thought you were my friend but you betrayed me! How dare you!"

"Hermione, please, listen to me," Ginny pleaded. "Everything that happened tonight was unexpected. I found Harry drinking near the kitchens and he was very drunk. I told him I'll help him to get to his room but I just couldn't carry him and he fell right on top of me and – and –"

I swallowed. "You kissed? Was that it?

"But it was an accident!"

"And you loved it!" I said and turned my back to her. I began to walk away.

"Why are you acting like that?" Ginny called out. Her tone changed to an annoyed one. "You don't own him yet."

I turned back and stared at her. "What did you say?"

"I said," she said and she took a step closer to me. "You don't own him yet."

I was speechless. _Oh, dear...this is not happening. This is just a bad dream._

"I admit it. I loved that kiss and I still love Harry. That kiss made me realize that I still want him and I'm not giving him up that easily," Ginny declared. "I'm not giving him up on you."

I was simply stunned. I couldn't believe it. "Wha – What are you trying to tell me?"

She grinned at me mischievously. "I'm challenging you, Hermione. The girl that wins our game wins Harry's heart." And with that, she left.

My knees gave away and I slumped down on the floor, crying. I came here in Harry's room to apologize to a friend to gain him back but I lost another one instead.

"What have I done to deserve this?" I cried and I buried my face in my hands.

"'Ermione." I heard Harry moaned. I lifted my face from my hands to look at him. His eyes were closed but there were tears flowing from it. It's odd to see boys cry especially Harry. He seemed to be a carefree and cheerful person but I knew that deep inside, he's worried about a lot of things.

"'M sorry," he continued.

I smiled weakly and shook my head. _He still thinks about what he did, _I thought. I crawled over to him and nudged him at his arm.

"Harry. Harry, wake up! Do you have plans on sleeping here on the floor?"

He moaned and slowly opened his eyes. "'Ermione?"

"Yes," I said and smiled at him. "It's me."

"Where'm I?" He asked, squinting.

"Honestly, Harry, don't you recognize your own room?" I said playfully.

" 'Ow – 'Ow did I get 'ere?"

"Well, Ginny – she took you here." _Oh, Ginny,_ I thought.

"Uh," he grunted, "my head aches. I can't remember anything."

_He didn't hear Ginny and me a while ago. _I was somehow relieved. Harry has no idea on what's going on. He didn't have a clue.

"I bet you wouldn't be able to remember anything in the morning," I said. "Mr. Potter, you are so drunk."

"Drunk? Me? 'm not drunk," he said as he struggled to sit up but fell back down again. I giggled.

"'Ermione?"

"Hmm?"

"'M sorry."

"About what?"

"'Bout everythin'."

"It's nothing," I said. "Look, let's talk about that tomorrow, okay? For now, you need some rest. _We_ need some rest. We both had a horrible day. Can you stand up?"

" 'm not sure," he mumbled. "I don't think I can."

"So you're going to sleep here on the floor?" I said as I walk over to his bed to get him his pillows and blanket.

"Most probably, yeah," he said. "But if you can carry me to bed, maybe not."

I laughed as I tossed some pillows to him. "Sleep on the floor then."

He pouted as he arranged the pillows. I walked towards the door to leave him and to go to my own room but Harry grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"Please stay," he said quietly. "I need company."

"Okay," I said and nodded as I lay back down beside him. He turned on his side to face me, his hand still holding mine.

"Thanks," he said as he closed his eyes. "Are you sure I'll forget everythin' in the mornin'?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "Maybe or maybe not."

He smiled. "I hope not. Good night."

"Good night," I whispered.

_This would be our first night together, _I thought as I gaze at his sleeping form. _I hope this wouldn't be the last. _Then I remember what Ginny said to me earlier and I smirked. _Well, then Ginny, you want a game, I'll give you one and you'll regret that you challenged me. May the best girl wins, then._

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16: The Towel

**Disclaimer: **I'm not J.K. Rowling. And therefore, I don't own Harry Potter.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE TOWEL**

Bright. So bright.

I slowly opened my eyes and squinted as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight. _Good morning, Hermione, _I said to myself. I stretched my arms above my head and then I noticed something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

_This is not my room. This is HARRY'S ROOM!_

Then a film rolled in my head and suddenly I remembered everything that happened. I could remember every single detail. Now, I feel so alone.

_Ginny._

I missed her already. Ginny was a great friend but everything changed in one night. She set her feelings aside for me because she knew I like Harry, and made herself believe that what she felt was nothing. But now, she realized that she was wrong. What she felt for Harry was worth fighting for.

But I couldn't blame her. Who wouldn't fall for a guy like Harry?

_Where is he anyway? _I asked myself. _And what am I doing on his bed? _I could remember myself sleeping on the floor, but on his bed?

Before I could think of anything that's..._embarrassing, _I heard a movement behind me and I spun around. Suddenly I wished that I didn't spin around and just keep on thinking about that _embarrassing_ thought in my head. What I was facing then made my jaw dropped.

Standing in the middle of the room was a wet, _almost_-naked Harry. He probably just finished taking a shower. His hair was sticking in every direction and he wasn't wearing his glasses. That made his eyes more noticeable. What bothers me most was that – well – he wasn't wearing anything except for the towel draped around his torso, obscuring his – erm – _you-know-what-I'm-taking-about _from view. I'm greatly thankful for that.

"I just took a shower because I know I'd feel better," he continued as he dried his hair with another towel, not noticing that I had my eyes covered with my hand and was peering between my fingers. "And if you're wondering why you're on my bed, I carried you there because I know it's not so comfortable sleeping on the floor. I went to the Owlery afterwards and took a shower."

And he noticed me and stared. "What's the matter?"

"I – I," I stammered, my face blushing. Then he realized what was wrong and a mischievous smile curved on his lips. _Oh no, This ain't good. He's up to something!_

"Why, Hermione? You've never seen a naked guy before?" he asked as he walked his way towards me.

"Uhm – yeah, of course," I squeaked and Harry smiled even more. _Damn, why did I say that? That was pretty stupid!_

"Do you want to see one in close up?" he asked and that took me of guard.

"What?"

He just smiled and continued on walking. Then he lunged himself off the floor, towards his bed. At that same time, I rolled off the bed and landed on the floor. _Merlin, is he still drunk?_

He smiled at me and that reminded me of the eleven-year-old Harry. He's still a boy at heart and this was like a game we used to play.

"I'll get you!" he exclaimed and the chase began. We ran around and around his room, and for a moment, I forgot that he was only wearing a towel. Then he stumbled on the pillow that was on the floor and landed on top of me. We started laughing and then I noticed a familiar towel just beside me. It was the same towel that was draped on Harry's torso.

That only means Harry wasn't wearing anything.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17: The Game Begins

**Disclaimer: **The plot is mine. Only the plot and nothing but the plot. So help me God.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE GAME BEGINS**

"Bloody hell, mate, what happened to you?" I heard Ron asked Harry when he arrived at the Great Hall that morning.

I glanced over to Harry who was sitting in front of me. I could see what Ron was talking about. It was very clear actually and I couldn't believe that I was the one who gave him _that_.

"It was a long story, Ron," Harry replied and he caught my eye. I quickly returned my attention to my plate, blushing.

* * *

**Flashback**

When I saw the towel beside me and realized that he must be wearing nothing, I screamed right at Harry's ear. I immediately pushed him off of me and buried my face in my hands and screamed again.

"Hey – I – Hermione, please calm down!" he shouted over my screaming. "Please stop screaming! They might thing I'm doing things to you and come up here!"

"Then let them come!" I yelled, my hands still on my face. "Let them see you naked and standing in front of me!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Come on! Look at me!"

He grabbed my arm and wrenched it away from my face. I had a second glimpse of his face before I punched him right at the eye. He staggered backward, clutching his left eye.

"Ow," he moaned, rolling on the floor. Then something blue caught my eye. I slowly looked down and realized that I was wrong. He was not totally naked. He was wearing his boxers underneath that towel.

"Oh my – Harry!" I cried as I rushed towards him. "I'm so sorry!"

"Why did you hit me?" he asked.

"I thought you weren't wearing anything so I – I punched you!"

"Do you really thing I'd do that to you?"

"But you said you'd show me a -- a _male's anatomy_ in close up! I thought you were serious about that!"

"I was only joking," he said, standing up. He walked over to the mirror and removed his hand from his eye. He had a black eye.

"Oh dear," I said under my breath as I stared at his eye. "That's terrible."

"And you gave that to me," he said. "Hermione Granger gave me a black eye."

"I'm sorry."

"Now I know how Malfoy felt."

* * *

"That's a terrible black eye, Harry."

I lifted my gaze and saw Ginny sitting beside Harry, holding his glasses and examining his eye. _When did she get here?_

"Yeah, I know," said Harry, quite enjoying himself. "I – er – fell off my bed and – uh – something hit my eye."

"Aw, poor you," Ginny said sweetly. It made my blood boil. "Do you want me to fix it?"

"You can?" Harry asked her, smiling.

"I sure can," Ginny said in a seductive voice. She leaned closer to Harry, her face mere inches from his. I let go of my spoon and fork and it landed on my plate with a loud clatter. Ginny stopped moving closer and glared at me.

"Oops," I said sarcastically. "Sorry about that."

"Oh – uhm – it was nothing," Harry replied, slowly pushing Ginny away.

"Come on, Harry." I stood up, grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"Where are we going?"

"To the library. We have our N.E.W.T.s –"

"Don't you want me to fix your eye first, Harry?" Ginny said in a louder voice. She grabbed Harry's other arm and pulled him back down.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, sure. Hermione, let Ginny fix –"

"I could fix it for you." I pulled my wand from my pocket. "I just know the right spell –"

"_No_, let me do it, Harry," Ginny told him and she also pulled her wand from her pocket. Two wands were now pointing at Harry's left eye. "It's like this –"

We muttered the spell at the same time and our wands glowed. For a moment we thought that Harry's face was back to normal but we wrong. The black eye was removed, alright but that part of Harry's face was now chalk white.

We all stared at his face. Then Ron started on laughing like a maniac and Ginny turned to me.

"Look at what you did!" she shouted at me. "You made everything worse!"

"_Me?" _I exclaimed. "It's _you_ who did something wrong!"

"Can anyone please tell me what wrong with my face?" Harry asked the two of us. This made Ron laugh even harder.

"Well, Miss Hermione Granger here made your face white!" Ginny yelled, not looking at Harry. Everyone was looking over our table now.

"You're blaming me?" I asked her, trying to minimize my voice but I was unsuccessful.

"Yes, I am!"

"Ladies, please –" Harry said, trying to stop us. But like me, he was unsuccessful.

"You're spell did that to him!" I retorted.

"Oh, yeah? It was your entire fault, Miss Perfect-Head-Girl! If you didn't keep on pushing yourself between Harry and I his face would be back to normal now!"

"You're the one who's butting in!" I snapped back but my voice was drowned by the fluttering of wings.

Owls were filling the Great Hall. Two owls came towards me, one with the Prophet, the other with a bouquet of lilies. I set them aside and was about to turn back to Harry and Ginny when another owl with another bouquet of lilies landed on my shoulder.

"What the –?"

I spun around and saw another dozen of owls – or perhaps, more of them – flying towards me. Every single bird was carrying the same thing – white lilies.

"Bloody Hell," Ron said when twenty owls landed on the Gryffindor table, all waiting for me to remove there package.

"What are these?" I said, stunned. _Twenty bouquets of lilies? Why?_

The owl that was on my shoulder held up it's leg. I noticed that aside from the lilies, there was a piece of parchment tied to its leg. I took it and read:

_I wasn't able to give you anything yesterday._

_You must be mad at me. I'm sorry._

_All of these lilies are for you. May you forgive me._

I read the note twice. All of these because he wasn't able to give me a single bunch? What a way to make it up with me.

I looked at Ron who was staring at all the owls and to Harry – or rather, to where Harry _was_ for he was no longer there. And so was Ginny.

I immediately scanned the Great Hall and I saw them running – Ginny was pulling Harry – towards the Oak doors and out of the castle.

_The Game begins, then, _I said to myself and ran after them.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18: The Pink Invitation

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is a property of J.K.

* * *

**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE PINK INVITATION**

I ran after them that day but I wasn't able to find them. I scanned the whole grounds for any sign of them but I found nothing. I guess if Ginny wants something, she'd do everything in her power to have it. Like hiding Harry from me for example. I went to the library after that and later did I find out that she took him to the Quidditch pitch. It was silly for me not to look there. Stupid.

It's been three days since our game began. The weekend was over and classes were resumed. What's a Hermione to do? Of course, burry herself in books and home works. I also tried to convince Harry and Ron to do the same, but – well, it's useless. They kept on talking about Quidditch and this wasn't good for me.

You see, Ginny keeps on appearing at places where Harry is. In the common room, in corridors, in meal Great Hall at meal times – everywhere! And once the Quidditch talk starts, I'll be out. They'll be talking about stuff I don't understand, things that I don't care about. If I try to join them, I'll look like a moron. You can't blame me if Quidditch is really not my thing. So, Ginny gets closer to Harry with Quidditch. So what? Big deal.

While we were in the library (Ginny's in class), I asked Harry if he noticed that Ginny was acting odd these past few days.

"She's always hanging out with us when she's free," I said. "Don't you think that's odd? Usually, she's not like that."

"What's wrong with that?" he asked. "I mean, she's my friend and I enjoy her company. I really like her, actually."

I almost killed him when he said that and my face fell.

"But you know I like you more than anything," he said and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "You are the best – no, wait – the bestest girl I ever met!"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating?" I asked him, smiling in spite of myself. I was about to ask him if I was better than the girl that he was planning to ask out but decided not to.

"Nah...why should I?"

"You're just trying to pull my leg!"

"Of course not! You are the greatest girl I've ever met."

"Really?"

"Sure. You are my best friend and – I love you."

I turned scarlet. "Now, that's enough."

"What's wrong?" he asked, pouting. "Don't you love me?"

"No! I mean – yes! No, wait –"

"Tell me you love me, then," he dared. He looked serious.

"I love you," I whispered.

"What did you say?" He cupped his ear. "I didn't catch that one."

"I said I love you," I muttered a little louder.

"I can't hear you," he said in a sing-song voice.

"I said – I LOVE YOU!" I almost yelled and that caught the attention of the other students around us. They started looking at me and Harry who was practically grinning.

"That's better," he beamed.

* * *

After that incident, rumors that Harry and I was a couple went flying around the school. I spent half of my time telling everybody that it wasn't true, and Harry spent half of his time telling everyone that it was up to them to believe it or not. 

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked him while we're in one of our Head Boy and Head Girl duties. We were to check if nobody was roaming around the castle at this hour.

"What do you mean by 'what do you think you're doing?'" he said, playfully.

"You know what I'm talking about," I snapped. "Why do keep on telling everyone that we're together?"

"I'm not telling them that!" he said defensively. "I told them to believe whatever they want to believe."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "They tend to believe that the rumors are true because of that!"

"Oh, is that so?" he said. "How fascinating."

"Fascinating!" I said hysterically. "What's so fascinating about that?"

"Well, I told them to decide for themselves and they choose to believe the rumors," he said slowly. "That must mean the rumors look real."

"What?"

"The rumors are about us being a couple, right?" he asked me and I nodded. "Then, maybe, we look exactly how the rumors describe us."

"Look exactly like what?"

"We look like we are together! Like we are so much in love with each other! Like – well, we are a couple!"

I felt hot around the face. "But we're not a couple! Are they crazy?"

"No, they're not," he whispered and I almost wasn't able to hear it. "They're just seeing the things that you're refusing to see. Or to believe."

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

* * *

"Because you are in your final year here at Hogwarts, you will have your Graduation Ball," Professor McGonagall announced. 

We were in our Common Room one Monday evening. The seventh years were all here because Professor McGonagall told us to. She said she was to announce some important things to us. _What an important thing this is, _I thought. When she said that we're going to have a Ball, the boys groaned and the girls murmured excitedly.

"The Ball will be on the fourteenth of February, which, we all know, Valentines day," Professor McGonagall continued. "And that would be this coming Friday. This Ball, like the Yule Ball that we had three years ago, will have a dance. And to be able to dance, you will need a partner."

More groans from the boys and more excited chattering from the girls. A partner. _A partner. There is no more Viktor Krum to have pity on me now_, I thought.

"Now, to the boys, I have here invitations for – every house has the same color of invitation, so do not complain Mr. Finnigan!" Professor McGonagall said when Seamus made a comment about the pink invitation. "You will give this invitation to the girl that you want to invite, even to the lower years. As to the seventh year girl that – uhm -- will not receive an invitation, she will, of course, be allowed to attend the ball if she wants to." Then she waved her wand and the invitations landed to every guys lap.

"Good luck, boys," she said and she left.

The girls began to giggle as the boys rose to their feet. I, on the other hand, felt nervous. _What if I ended up without a partner? Would I still go to the ball?_

I glanced over at Harry who was looking at his invitation. I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his face to look at me.

"Give it to her," I said slowly, thinking of the girl that he told me about while we were at the library. "Give it a shot. This is your chance to tell her how you feel."

"What if she refuses to go with me?" he said.

"No, she won't," I said assuring him. "I can feel it. I just know."

"Thanks," he smiled and stood up. He gave me a hug, murmured a quick good night and went to their dormitory.

* * *


	19. Chapter 19: I'll Be Waiting

**Disclaimer: The usual disclaimer.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: "I'LL BE WAITING"**

Wednesday.

The Great Hall was filled with the chattering of the seventh years, mostly of the female population. They were all talking about the upcoming Graduation Ball. All were talking about the dresses and shoes that they're going to wear and about the styles they're going to do with their hair. They would all start on giggling everytime a guy approach them or just even pass them.

Of course, all except me.

"Seamus asked me to be his date last night," Lavander said to Parvati loudly, making sure that everyone sitting around the Gryffindor table could hear her. Harry and I were sitting across them.

"Really?" Parvati squealed.

"And he did it in front of everyone that was present in our Common Room," Lavander continued. "Isn't he so sweet?"

"Indeed," Parvati replied dreamily. "I wish Neville did the same thing to me. He just cornered me after our class in Transfiguration yesterday and asked me to be his partner when everyone was gone."

"Well, Neville is a shy boy," Lavander said. Then, she suddenly turned to me. "How about you, Hermione? Who's your date for the special night?"

"Oh – I – er – nobody's asked me yet," I stammered, blushing. Both of the girls gasped.

"WHAT!" Lavander shrieked. "No one's asked you? Oh my god!"

"Ssshh, please don't be so loud," I pleaded while I slowly sank in my chair.

"But, Hermione, that's terrible!" Parvati exclaimed. "You've got to act immediately! You've gotta move! You've gotta do something – anything!"

"Do what? Why?" I asked them.

"Beautify yourself! Start on attracting guys! Go get yourself a partner!" Lavander said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She's right. You must quit studying first and make some action," Parvati added. "Before everyone's taken."

"Quit studying for that ball?" I said. "No, thank you."

"But if you don't follow our advice, you won't have any partner and you'll be that person Professor McGonagall was talking about!" Lavander said.

"No, she won't," Harry said suddenly and he wrapped his arm around me protectively. "And she wouldn't need to beautify herself and do anything of that sort. She's already beautiful and I'm sure she attracts guys better that both of you. You'll be surprised if you see her with – a hunk, perhaps?"

"Like Viktor Krum?" Parvati asked.

Harry grinned. "Maybe even better than Viktor Krum."

"Is that so?" Lavander said, raising an eyebrow. She was insulted when Harry said I could attract guys better than her. Which I thought was a bunch of crap. I'll never surpass these women when it comes to beauty.

"Yep."

"So, Harry, did you asked anyone to come with you to the Ball yet?" Parvati asked him.

"Now that you've mentioned it – yes, I already gave my invitation to her."

I was surprised. _He asked her already? _I caught his eye and then he winked at me.

"Well, who is she and what was her answer? Did she accept your invitation or reject it?" Lavander inquired, suddenly becoming interested.

Harry laughed. "Well, I haven't got her response yet. In fact, I'm not sure if she received it already."

"Who is she?" Lavander and Parvati said in unison.

_Yes, who is she, Harry? _I said to myself.

"I'm not telling both of you who she is," said Harry, smiling. "I don't want rumors to be scattering around. She doesn't like rumors, I tell you."

"You know her that much, huh?" Lavander asked.

"Sure."

"Do we know her?"

"Of course. And if you're planning to ask, she's a lot prettier than both of you – combined."

With that, Lavander and Parvati left muttering to themselves.

"That was so rude," I told Harry but I was smiling. "You've hurt them badly. They might jinx you."

"I just told them the truth," he said. "What's wrong about that?"

I was about to tell him that it was Parvati and Lavander that he was talking to, and those girls think that they're the most beautiful girls here in school. Telling them that there's a girl prettier that them would be an insult even though it was the truth. But I was interrupted by the owl post once again. Two owls flew towards me. I took the daily prophet and the bouquet of lilies from them. Then I noticed that there was something pink attached to the lilies.

It was the invitation.

I took it with a shaking hand and read.

The time has come to reveal who I am.

Please come with me to the Ball. Send your response with this owl.

If you're not decided yet, send it in another day

after I send you the lilies in the morning.

I'll be waiting.

I placed the invitation slowly on the table. I noticed that the owl was still there and waiting for my reply. _But what should I say? Should I go with him?_

I made my decision and sent the owl away. I saw that Harry was staring at me intently.

"What was that?" he asked me.

"He asked me to be his partner."

"What did you say?"

"I haven't decided if I should accept his invitation or not."

"I thought you like him?"

"I do," I said, fumbling with my fingers. "But I don't know if want discover who he really is."

"But you have to make your decision before Friday night."

"I know."

We were silent for about a minute or two. It was Harry who broke the silence.

"I think we better go. We're late for Potions. I don't want Snape to have a reason to deduct points from Gryffindor." He started gathering his things.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"If – if that girl that you asked – er – decides to reject your invitation," I said slowly. "I can be your partner. I mean – if only she won't accept it and if you want to, of course!" Then I turned a deep shade of red. _Why did you say that? Stupid, stupid, stupid..._

He looked at me for a long time. He seemed to be deep in thought. I'm starting to regret that I told him that.

Then he smiled weakly. "We'll see." He held up a hand and I took it. Together, we went to Potions.

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	20. Chapter 20: Forgotten

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter...yadda, yadda, yadda...

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWENTY: FORGOTTEN**

Thursday.

The day before Friday. Only a day before the Ball. The day that I must decide if I wanted to go with the lily guy.

Or maybe not.

"Don't tell me you haven't got an answer yet," Ron exclaimed while we were in the Great Hall. Ron found out that the mystery guy invited me and that I wasn't able to give him my reply yesterday.

"Yeah – sort of," I said, watching the owl that delivered the lilies fly away. "I haven't decided yet."

"So you sent that owl away again with nothing," he said. "Poor guy, he'd want to be informed soon if you're going to come with him or not so he could prepare or something."

"I know, so stop making me guilty!" I snapped. "Besides, I still have time to think until tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, I'll send my answer. Tomorrow, he could prepare for – whatever."

"And all you've got to tell him is 'no,'" Ron joked. I slapped him at his arm. "Hey, I was only joking!"

"I'll think about that 'no,' too," I said.

"Whatever," Ron said then he turned to Harry. "Hey, you seem to be so lame. Whazup?"

Harry ignored him. He was twirling his wand in his hand and was staring at nowhere. He looked upset about something.

"Earth calling Harry Potter!" Ron called louder. "Mate, what's bothering you? Is it about that girl you asked? Did she already say yes?"

Harry suddenly stopped twirling his wand and sighed. "Unfortunately, no."

"What!" Ron yelped. "A girl rejected Harry Potter's invitation?"

"No, not rejected," said Harry defensively. "But _like _Hermione, she's not responding yet."

Ron shook his head. "Girls are all similar. They are a real pain in the ass."

Harry directly looked at me. "You bet."

* * *

After dinner that same day, Professor McGonagall called the Head Girl and Boy to her office. Since Harry's out practicing Quidditch with the rest of the Gryffindor team, I went alone. When I was in front of her office, I knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard her say so I turned the knob and went inside.

Professor McGonagall's office was pretty much the same when I first entered it in my third year with Harry. A fire was still roaring at the fireplace and the tray of tartan biscuits still sat on her table.

"Good evening, Professor," I greeted her with a warm smile.

"Good evening to you, Miss Granger," she said. "Come and sit down."

I walked towards the chair in front of her table and sat. "Have some biscuits," she said, indicating the tray that I mentioned earlier.

"Oh, no, thank you. I'm full." It was pretty silly of her to ask me that since we just had dinner.

Then she noticed that I was alone. "Where is Potter?"

"They have Quidditch practice, Professor," I said.

McGonagall sighed. "Well, go and fetch him. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and so I must tell you my instructions now."

"Okay, Professor." I stood up and went out of her office.

_Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, _I thought as I walked along the corridors. Of course, the Ball. We must make some arrangements for that special night.

When I went out of the Great Oak doors, I noticed that it was raining. I didn't bother to get any umbrella or something because I like rain. And I figured that it wouldn't take me long since it was almost nine and some players are not allowed after that time. Harry should know that. He's Head Boy, for goodness' sake!

When I was walking down the grassy Quidditch pitch, I met Ron and the other players.

"Oi, Hermione, why are you standing in the rain? You might catch a flu," Ron said when he saw that it was me. He cares about me. How sweet.

"Where is Harry?" I said.

"He's still at our changing rooms," Ron replied, looking past my shoulder. "What's taking him too long, anyway? Go check him out, will you?"

"Okay, thanks," I said and I jogged towards the changing rooms.

The door of the changing rooms was slightly open so I took a peak. At first I thought that no one was in there. But then I saw Harry standing at the middle of the room. He was not alone.

He was with Ginny. And he had his arms around her in a tight embrace.

I slowly took a step backwards. My head was spinning. _No...this can't be happening..._

I turned away from them as ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going. I just wanted to get away from there, fast.

Then I stopped to catch my breath. I noticed that I was near the lake. I walked over to the tree that the three of us used to stay.

_So the girl was Ginny, _I said to myself._ The girl that he mentioned when we were at the library ages ago was Ginny. I should have known…_

I was soaked to the bone and it was getting cold, but I didn't care. I forgot about McGonagall, I forgot about that important thing that she was going to tell us, I forgot everything! Everything except Harry and Ginny.

_It's over. Ginny won. It's all over. _Then I cried. And the rain fell harder.

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	21. Chapter 21: Ron's Revelation

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is a property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's note: **I'm back! My arms getting a lot better so I updated again. God, 600 reviews! Now that's really wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Because of that, I made this chapter a lot longer. So, start reading coz I know you want to.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: RON'S REVELATION**

_I was walking towards the changing rooms near the Quidditch Pitch. My strides were long but it seemed like ages when I got there. It felt like some force was trying to stop me from getting near the changing rooms._

_When I was there, I opened the door of the room and inside I saw Harry and Ginny – doing the _tongue. _They stopped when they saw me standing at the doorway._

"_Hermione!" Harry shouted annoyance in his voice. "What are you doing here? I thought McGonagall told you to clean the windows with the house-elves?"_

"_But – but she told me to come here and – and get you," I said._

"_Well, tell her I'm busy," Harry ordered. "Tell her – you'll do whatever she wants me to do. Tell her you'd love to have my job."_

"_But –"_

"_Please, Hermione," Harry said, but he didn't seem like he was pleading. Irritated was more likely. "Can't you see we're having Quidditch Practice?"_

"_Quidditch practice? _Quidditch practice_!"_

"_Yeah. Besides, I know you'd do anything for me. I know you love me, but sorry, I don't like you. Isn't it obvious that I like Ginny? But if you want me, you can tell. I mean, if you want a quick shag, all you've got to do is ask. I'd be more willing to do it." Then, Harry and Ginny laughed and resumed their kissing._

"_This is not happening, this is not happening," I chanted over and over. I started biting my nails, but I was so nervous that I bit my finger._

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"Ouch!"

I opened my eyes and I saw a brown, feathery object on top of me. I squinted to focus my eyes and saw that it was a barn owl. It was pecking my fingers, trying to wake me up. I tried to sit up but I suddenly became dizzy and my head ached.

"Ow," I moaned, clutching my forehead. I felt so sick.

I could remember running outside the rain because I saw something that I wouldn't want to recall. Let me give you a clue. It was similar to the dream that I just had – well, no. But he was with Ginny and – uh, never mind. My clothes were soaked and my hair clung to my face. It was so cold but I didn't mind it. I stopped by the tree near the lake and there I cried for minutes – maybe hours. I dunno, actually. I couldn't even remember how I got here in my room. Maybe I managed to drag myself up here. Luckily, Filch didn't spot me.

I noticed that my bed was a bit damp and so were my clothes. I realized that I was still wearing the clothes that I was wearing last night. So I slept with wet clothes on. Great. I'm going to be _really _sick. Great.

"Hey!" I yelped when the owl pecked me again. It was getting annoyed because I wasn't paying attention to him since it since it was the one who woke me up. It held up its leg where the lilies were attached and so was a note. I untie the lilies and took the note.

Written on it were only five syllables.

_It's now or never._

"What?" I said out loud.

Then I remembered. Of course! How could I forget! He's talking about your answer, the invitation, the Ball.

_The Ball._

Uh-oh.

I haven't prepared for it! And I haven't decided yet! Oh, what should I do?

"Oh, forget it!" I told the owl as if it understands me. "Tell him I'm not going to the Ball. Tell him that – tell him that I'm sorry, that it's not that I don't like to go with him or anything, but – I can't go to the Ball."

The owl just stared at me and blinked. Of course, it didn't understand a word that I've said.

"Oh, just – go," I muttered. "When you return without any response, he'd understand. I know he will."

The owl flew away and I watched it go. I was feeling upset because I've just missed the opportunity to see the lily guy. Now his identity will stay as a mystery to me forever. Then there was a sudden knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" I called out.

"It's me," said Ron's voice. I sighed and frowned. It's not that I didn't want to see Ron, but...well, I was expecting Harry.

"Come in, Ron," I said. The door of my room opened and Ron came in.

"Hey," he said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

I raised my eyebrow. _How come he knows that I'm not feeling well?_ "Er – what?"

"Harry told me you're sick," Ron continued and he sat on my bed. "Told me to check on you."

I rolled my eyes. So Harry was here and he knew that I'm not feeling good. But why isn't he here? Why didn't he check on me by himself? Why did he tell Ron to do it? Is he too busy with someone to do it on his own? What a friend!

"So, where is Harry?" I asked Ron, unable to hide my disappointment.

"He's down at the Great Hall," Ron said. "He's helping out downstairs. You know, preparing for the Ball."

It was then that I remembered. Professor McGonagall called us yesterday to tell us to help preparing for tonight! I was about to stand up and go down at the Great Hall but Ron pulled me back.

"Oi, where you going?" he asked. "You must rest here."

"But I need to help Harry," I said as I tried to pull away from Ron. "And Professor McGonagall will be mad if –"

"No, she won't," Ron explained. "She already knows you are ill. She went here inside your room and saw that you're not so well. So she told Harry to do everything. It's okay."

Then I gave up. I sat back on the bed and thought of Harry. _That's the consequence for hurting me, _I said to myself. But I was feeling sorry for him.

"You should rest," Ron suddenly said. "If you don't do that, you wouldn't be able to go to the Ball tonight."

"But I won't go," I said.

"What?"

"I said I won't go to the Ball."

"But why?"

"Because I'm sick. And I haven't prepared! I don't have anything special to wear."

"How about the lily guy?"

"I already told him I'm not going."

Ron groaned. "Why did you do that?"

"What did you mean by 'why did you do that?'" I snapped.

"Why did you tell him you're not going?" Ron exclaimed.

"Because I'm really not going!"

"Of course, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Why?"

"I told you already! I'm not prepared! I don't have a dress!"

"You could easily get a dress if you wanted to. I know, you. If you really want something, you will always find a way to have that something."

"But – I'm not going!" I almost yelled. "Why is it so hard for you to understand that, Ron?"

"Because you're not giving me any _good_ reason why you're not going," he said, his voice rising.

"Well, I'm not going because I-I – I don't want to! And that's final."

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"Are you sure you're not going? You still have time to decide."

It was already evening. Ron was in my room again to ask me that question again. He was wearing his new dress robes that Fred and George bought him. It has no lace in it and it looks fine. Actually, Ron looks really nice in it.

The truth is I wanted to go. But I don't want to because I don't want to see Harry and Ginny together. I don't want to be hurt again. And I'm still sick.

"No, Ron," I said for the hundredth time that day. "You go on."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," he finally said. "I guess there's no use trying to convince you. Get some rest now." And he turned to leave.

Then an idea hit me. "Hey, Ron!" I called and he turned and looked at me. "Who's the lucky girl?"

He looked confused for a moment but after a moment he understood and blushed.

"What are you talking about?" he said, trying to hide his smile. "What girl?"

I smirked. "Come on, Ron. You know what I'm talking about."

He sighed and said, "Okay. I asked Luna Lovegood to be my partner."

I was surprised. _Luna Lovegood? _Then I smiled. Luna became really pretty after sometime. She was still weird but her weirdness made her unique and cute. I never knew Ron could like someone like her.

"I know she's the kind of girl that I wouldn't have some interest to," Ron said, fidgeting with his fingers. "But when we had this fight about our relationship ages ago and I was doing everything I could to avoid you, she was with me. I mean, when I was alone one time at the Quidditch Pitch, I found her there. She told me that she was always sitting by the stands every evening, just thinking about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or something. She asked me why was I alone and I told her my problem and she told me to get over you and I said I will. After that, I always find myself going to the Quidditch pitch. At first, I was convinced that I'm going there because I wanted to practice, but later on I found out the real reason. I was going there because of her. I enjoy her company. She was really nice. She told me a lot of weird stories, most of them about the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. I know they aren't real but I played along. She thinks that I believed her and she told me that I was the only person at school that really have brains. She said she liked me and she gave me kiss on the cheek. I know it's just a quick peck but – hell, I couldn't sleep that night. From that moment I knew. I knew that I was over you. I knew that – I knew that I love her."

Silence.

"Wow, Ron," I said. I was really happy for him. "Wow."

"I know," Ron said. "It's only been a short time but it's not hard to fall in love with Luna."

I beamed. "I never knew you could be so sweet."

"Me too."

"Go and have fun Ron," I said and I winked at him. "Enjoy the night with Luna."

He smiled and left.

I was alone again. I felt really lonely. Now Ron has Luna. Harry has Ginny. I have nobody. Then I saw something at the corner of my eye. I looked over at it and I froze.

Someone was standing behind the curtains to the balcony.

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**Cliffy! Sorry but I couldn't help myself.**

**There was no Harry in this chapter so probably most of you were disappointed. I'll make it up on the next chapter, I promise.**

**Ron/Luna! Another ship that I support. I'm thinking about making a one-shot on that part where Ron and Luna spend their time at the Quidditch Pitch after I finished this fic. Tell me what you think.**

**And before I forget, REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22: Why?

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is a property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's note: **It's been a long time. Kill me now if you must. But if you do that, you'll never know the end of this story. So...don't. You'll find out why if you read.

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: "WHY?"**

"Whozare?"

The shadow slowly walked closer to me. My hearts was pumping loudly in my chest. He was now standing behind the curtains. I took my wand immediately from my side table and braced myself. A hand appeared from behind the curtains and whipped them aside –

"Harry!" I exclaimed feeling relieved. "It's you!"

"Oh, hi Hermione," he said beaming. He moved towards my bed and sat right next to me. "Sorry if spooked you. I just wanted to take some fresh air from the balcony before I – before I do something."

"It's alright – I mean, no!" I said. "Why are you here?"

He looked at me questioningly. "What did you mean?"

"I meant you!" I said as a matter-of-factly. "You are not supposed to be here!"

"Why? Because this is a lady's room?" Harry asked. "But I've been here loads of times!"

"Not that!" I said irritably. "I was talking about you, being here and not being where you are supposed to be."

"And where am I supposed to be?"

"At the Ball! Come on, don't tell me you forgot about that."

"Of course, I did not," he said defensively as he lied down on my bed.

I gave him a stern look. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"Uhm, let me see," he said. "I'm lying down here at your bed and enjoying your company."

I sighed. _He's making it difficult. Why can't he just leave?_ "Harry, you need to go."

"But I am not going."

I gapped at him. He's not going? "And why are you not going, Mister?"

"Let me ask you the same question," he said, looking at me. "Why aren't you going?"

"Because I am sick!" I snapped at him. I started to sniff to prove it to him. _I thought he knew about my condition. Why is he asking me about it?_

"That's all?" he asked. "That's your reason? Well, I'm not going because I don't want to."

"What kind of reason is that?" I retorted. "That's not a valid reason."

"Okay, fine," he said impatiently. "I'm not going because I don't have a partner."

"Don't play games with me, Harry Potter. I know perfectly well that you have a partner."

"No, honestly, I don't have."

"Then what do you call Ginny?" I said, jealousy clear in my voice.

"Ginny? What about Ginny?"

I looked at him incredulously. "Don't tell me you're going to leave her there alone?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Harry said, shaking his head. "I don't understand. What are we talking about?"

"Ginny! Your partner! Your date! Your true love! Your dearest! Your princess! Your soulmate! Your one-and-only! Your precious or – or whatever you want to call her!"

Harry stared at me for a long time, and then grinned. "But Ginny is not my date for tonight."

"What?"

"Look, I didn't ask Ginny to be my partner or date or true love or dearest or princess or soulmate or one-and-only or precious or whatever I want to call her."

I blushed. "You don't need to repeat every single word."

"I'll repeat every single word if that's the only way for you to believe that Ginny is not – _her_," he said. "Nobody is like her. Too bad she never answered my invitation." He tried to force a smile to his face. I felt guilty because I did the same thing to the lily guy. He might be feeling the same thing Harry's feeling.

"Did you ever find out why she didn't give you her response," I said.

"No," he said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Why don't you ask her?" I told Harry. "Maybe she will tell you the reason why."

Harry suddenly sat up. "You know, you are right! Maybe I should ask her." He suddenly started pacing around my room.

"Yeah," I nodded, thinking that I gave Harry an idea. "You can ask her tomorrow after the Ball."

"No," he said. "Tonight is the right time."

"Tonight?"

He didn't answer me. He stopped pacing and stood at the middle of my room. "Why," I heard him muttered. "Why?"

"Harry?"

He looked at straight in the eye, those emerald green eyes piercing mine. "Why, Hermione? Why?"

After a moment I understood. My jaw dropped and my heart stopped on beating.

"Oh, my god," I said under my breath.

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**Yep. Keepin you at the edge of your seat. I can't help myself. Please review. I beg you.**


	23. Chapter 23: The Hundredth Bouquet

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter's not mine.

**Author's note: **I know some of you don't want to hear my excuses again. But let me tell you that my whole family went to our province in La Union. We stayed there for three weeks. We don't have computers there. We're lucky to have a television. What could I do? Go on...tell me I'm lazy...you have no idea…

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**WHITE LILIES**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE HUNDREDTH BOUQUET**

"Oh, my god," I said under my breath.

My head was spinning; everything around me was a blur. Harry just stood there and looked at me with an expressionless face.

"I – I'm _her_? So that must mean...you – you're _him_!" I stammered, my heart hammering loudly in my chest. "But how?"

Suddenly all my memories for the past few weeks came back to me like a film being rolled again.

"You mean I was that girl you were talking about?" I asked, remembering the scene where Harry told me about Miss Perfect. _So I'm Miss Perfect?_

"Yep," he said casually like we were only having a normal conversation.

"But you said she wasn't me!"

"I never said that!"

"Oh, yes you did, mister," I said. "That memory's still fresh in my mind and I can remember every single detail of it!"

"If that's the case then you must know that I'm right!" Harry replied. "Can you remember me saying, 'Hermione, the girl's not you'?"

"No," I said. "But you laughed at me when I reacted –"

"But your face was really funny at that time," he said jokingly and I gave him a hard stare. "It – er – was a mean thing to do – laughing at you like that..."

"So it was you who sneaked in my room that night!" I accused.

"No, it was Zacharias Smith," he said. "Of course, it was me who sneaked in you room that night! And the night before that and the night before that and the night –"

"You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Hey, I thought you were a sleep! If I knew you were awake then I should have worn my invisibility cloak."

"So Ginny was right after all," I muttered to myself but Harry heard me."

"Ginny knew it was me?" he asked.

"Well, yes, she said _he _could be you," I said. "You were the other suspect aside from Ron. But it never, ever occurred to me that you could be the one!"

"You never told me about that!"

"Do think I'd tell you even if I thought that Ginny was right? Of course not!"

"Why not?" Harry asked. "I'm your best friend!"

"Ron's my best friend but I never told him about what happened that night," I said. "I didn't tell you because if you're the lily guy –"

"I thought you said you never believed it was me?"

"You might be more cautious about what you are doing and that would make it a lot difficult for me to investigate," I said, ignoring what he said.

"You were investigating?"

"Well, no – sort of," I stated. "I've accidentally read your diary."

"You've read my journal!" he said, hysterically.

"Don't worry, I just glanced at it. That's all! And it was an accident!" I said defensively. "I was cleaning your _dirty _room when I found this notebook under your pillow."

"Why were you in my room?"

"I was waiting for you. Ron said you weren't at breakfast and you were missing the whole afternoon. You were not at dinner too so I started to worry. I went to your room, expecting you to be there but you weren't. Where were you?"

"I was down at the kitchens, drinking," he murmured guiltily. "I know I shouldn't be doing that because I'm the Head Boy and Captain of the Quidditch Team...should set an example like you always remind me, but I felt so miserable that time..."

I knew perfectly well why he was miserable. It's because of me. "I waiting for you at your room because I wanted to apologize for hurting you," I said. "I was in a bad mood that day because of Madam Pomfrey and because the lily guy didn't send me lilies. I was sort of hoping the lilies would cheer me up but none came."

Harry looked apologetic at me. "Yeah, I know. I was in the hospital wing the whole night so I wasn't able to give you any. Sorry."

"But the lily guy sent me whole lot more the next day so I sort of forgave him," I said.

We became silent for a few minutes, glancing at each other, waiting for anyone who would break the uncomfortable silence. I decided to do it.

"I saw you," I started but the words got stucked in my throat. Relieving that scene again made my eyes sting. I took a deep breath and continued. "I saw you and Ginny at the changing rooms last night. How would you explain that?"

"Well, after Quidditch practice yesterday, Ginny said to tell me something important so we both stayed behind," Harry explained. "Then she told me that she likes me, that she'd do everything for me and if it's alright with me, she would be pleased to be my partner for the Ball."

_What a nerve, _I thought.

"But I told her I was sorry and that I already love someone else. I told her it was you and she started crying but she was also smiling which was really odd. I asked her why she was like that and she mentioned something about you winning the game. She never explained what that meant and I never bothered to ask. Then she asked me a favor. Said that if I could just give her a warm embrace, she'd be fine and everything would be back to normal. And so I gave her a hug and she cried on my shoulder. After that, she made me promise that I'd tell you how I feel, and that's the other reason why I'm here."

"Oh. Remind me to thank Ginny."

I couldn't believe it. Everything seemed to fit. All of it made sense to me, all of my questions answered. The last piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell on its right place and the picture became clear to me. The one who was in the picture, the one that I've been looking for for so long is Harry. I was so stupid not to notice. It was right before my eyes. I was so blind...

I heard Harry sigh. "I know it may come as a shock to you. I'll let you think about it. I'll come back when you have your answer. The lily guy will be waiting for you," he said and he gave me a weak smile. Then, he turned to leave.

"I've already decided," I said aloud. "And my answer is no."

Harry suddenly stopped walking but he didn't look back. He seemed to be in a state of shock.

"The lily guy shouldn't have hidden behind all those letters and all those lilies. He should have shown who he truly is. Who knows, maybe the girl already loves the real him and he doesn't have any clue."

Harry spun around, his mouth a bit open. I smiled at him and said, "Can you tell him that, Harry? Can you tell the lily guy everything that I've said?"

Harry's lips curved into a smile and he nodded. "Sure. No problem."

* * *

Saturday. 

Everyone was chatting in the Great Hall the next day about the Ball last night. It seemed to be a spectacular night and Ron kept on telling me that I've missed the most wonderful moment of my life.

"You should have come, Hermione," Ron said as we ate breakfast. "The whole night was filled with magic."

Ron was sitting with Luna when I arrived at the Gryffindor table. They were reading the latest issue of Quibbler. Ron was listening attentively to Luna when she was explaining something about an article and he was fixated to her. I was surprised on how Ron was changed by Luna.

I snapped out of my reverie when the owls came. I noticed that there seemed to be a lot more owls today. _That's odd_, I thought. _Half of them seem to be heading this way..._

But then I realized there were heading towards me! They landed on the Gryffindor table, scattering plates everywhere. All of the people in the Great Hall looked over at our table.

"Bloody Hell, Hermione," Ron said as he wiped his pumpkin pie of his face. "What are these?"

I looked closely at the owls and each of them have a bouquet of white lilies with them. _I thought he understood what I meant...why the owls again?_

"Look, this one's got a note with it," Luna said taking the note and reading it. "It says, 'Ninety-nine owls, ninety-nine bouquets.' You know, ninety-nine is not a very lucky number. It says that –"

"Ninety-nine?" Ron said, cutting Luna sentence. "Why not a hundred owls and a hundred bouquets?"

"It's because _I _have the hundredth bouquet."

My hair stood on its ends. I'd recognize that voice anywhere…

I slowly turned around and saw Harry standing about ten feet behind meHe was holding the last bouquet of lilies. "I've already told him and he agreed," he said and he grinned.

I smiled and ran towards him. I jumped at him and we both landed on the floor. Everyone was staring at us but I don't care.

"I believe that this is for you," he said as he handed me the lilies.

"Thank you," I said.

"And if I remember it right, you owe me ten galleons."

"WHAT?"

"I was right about Ron, wasn't I?" he said and he winked at me.

"How dare you," I replied my eyes narrowing into slits. "You knew it all along..."

He started laughing and I decided to the only right thing that I could think of. I kissed him.

At first he was shocked about it but he responded after a while. The sweet was sweet and gentle, not tongues or anything. That sort of kiss could wait. As of that moment, that would be enough.

We pulled apart. Everyone was cheering at us. I giggled at the look on Harry's face when we broke the kiss.

"Do I still owe you ten galleons?" I asked him.

Harry shook his head. "That kiss was more that ten galleons."

"Now about that date that you're planning," I reminded him. "Where will you take me?"

"I'd take you anywhere," he said. "Do you want to start now?"

"Why not?"

He beamed at me and we both stood up and ran out of the Great Hall, hand in hand. Where did he take me? I think I'd keep it to myself. But every moment that I've spent with him was the most wonderful moment of my life. I didn't miss it after all like Ron said.

**

* * *

Thanks a lot for giving me 800+ reviews! I hope you still give me some now that this story is over. Be writing more stories and will be posting them when I finished 'em. Please tell me what you think about the ending. i suck at endings...oh, well...review! **

**Trix**


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